


Mellow High

by TheAceOfVoid



Series: Jukebox [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Autistic Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Genderfluid Eret (Video Blogging RPF), He/Him and They/Them pronouns for Toby | Tubbo, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Minor depictions of gore, Multi, Niki | Nihachu and Ranboo are Siblings, Nonbinary Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Other, Platonic Soulmates, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, THIS IS ABOUT THEIR CHARACTERS NOT THEM, Tags will update as fic continues, They're all hybrids, Trans Male Floris | Fundy, Very minor dont worry, author ignores canon heights unless I agree, but none of the main characters are bad in this don't wory, fix it fic but instead I just make different bad things happen, protective everyone really, they come out later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 77,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28998786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAceOfVoid/pseuds/TheAceOfVoid
Summary: Soulmarks are a physical mark of someone’s soul on your body, appearing when you first touch with any kind of love in your heart, and showing your bond. It is normal to amass these marks as you age,None of them know what to do when they find a collapsed enderman hybrid out in the rain; injured, sick, and completely unmarked.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Jschlatt, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, BadBoyHalo/Skeppy, Cara | CaptainPuffy/Niki | Nihachu, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt/Wilbur Soot, Ponk | DropsByPonk/Sam | Awesamdude, everyone&everyone
Series: Jukebox [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144037
Comments: 358
Kudos: 1922





	1. Explanatory Chapter

All of the cast are soulmates (mostly platonic) and are living together on a Minecraft world, basically the 'dream smp' if instead of going to war they just were very domestic and nice and no wars happened, some canon events will be twisted in ways so they are either less serious or the same amount serious but happened a bit differently. This is about their CHARACTERS and not the people who play them.

Soulmarks are marks that form whenever you touch the skin of someone who you love (in any way) and they love you back (in any way). This puts an almost watercolor-like stain where you touch and is the color of your soul on their skin, when not actively thinking of each other this will only be an outline but when touching or actively feeling love for each other it will gain more vivid color.

Before a mark is fulfilled (goes into color once you both love each other and touch), only the person with said marks will be able to see the outlines of them.

When you no longer feel love for someone or they die the mark will scar over permanently. When you touch your soulmate after you soulmark them it will make you feel calmer and happier.

Someone's soul's color can change, but usually only after a very big change in personality or a life changing event, soul's can also very rarely be multiple colors.

Marks forming is vaguely painful (like a light, very quick tattoo) but fades quickly.

Hybrids aren't uncommon but many people don't know they're hybrids for a good part of their life, hybrids are generally discriminated against, with passive hybrids being stereotyped as weak, neutrals as being two faced/sneaky liars, and hostiles as well, hostile. Enderman hybrids are counted usually under the 'hostile' umbrella even though enderman are technically neutral mobs.

Passive hybrids are often, while stereotyped and being expected of not being able to do much, are generally accepted in society and most servers. Neutrals aren't usually hurt (though there are unaccepting servers) but are mistrusted. While hostile hybrids are sometimes outright hunted down on servers, battle servers are some of the most accepted places for hostile hybrids due to them usually being better at battle and most end up having to go to one to be safe.

Displaying hybrid traits/instincts in public is generally looked down on and can get bad reactions, especially to hostile hybrids as most take it as a threat, making most hybrids hide said traits.

Most hybrids have a skill called 'shifting' where they can appear more human, though how human you can appear depends on how much of your code is mob code, general skill, state of mind, and other factors. Most hybrids can't get rid of all their traits and some can't even shift at all.

Since it might be hard to follow here is the list of characters, their families, their soul color, what type of hybrid they are, etc. (if someone is in the Dream SMP and not in this fic it's because I didn't know how to write them into the story so I just left them out)

**Dream**  
Human/Slime Hybrid (Dreamon-fused, dealing with it)  
Bright Green  
Only remaining family is Drista, though she is not soulmates with any of his and vice versa so they are not close, though they still care for eachother and she visits sometimes, though was semi-raised by Puffy  
In a romantic relationship with George

**George**  
Human/Cat  
Light Blue  
No Remaining Family  
In a romantic relationship with Dream

**Sapnap**  
Human/Panda/Blaze (stays in completely human form usually)  
Dark Gray, was red as a child.  
No remaining family, though was semi-jokingly semi-seriously 'adopted' by Badboyhalo  
In a romantic relationship with Karl and Quackity.

**Callahan**  
Human/Reindeer  
Dark Blue  
No known family

**Sam/Awesamdude**  
Human/Creeper  
Green, shades have changed over time  
No known family

Dating? Ponk

**Ponk**  
Human/Demon  
Orangeish Red  
No known family

Dating? Sam

**Bad/Badboyhalo**  
Full Demon  
Dark red  
Semi-seriously semi-jokingly adopted Sapnap, no other family  
In a romantic? relationship with Skeppy

**Tommy**  
Human/Avian  
Gold, was originally Red  
Adopted son of Philza, brothers with Wilbur, Techno, briefly raised aside Tubbo, uncle of Fundy

**Tubbo**  
Human/Moobloom  
Dark Foresty Green  
Biological son of J.Schlatt and an unnamed mother, briefly raised by Philza, alongside Wilbur, Techno, and Tommy  
(SCHLATT IS NOT A BAD DAD IN THIS FIC THIS WILL BE EXPLAINED LATER I SWEAR HE LOVES HIS SON)

**Punz**  
Human/Wolf (very little physical hybrid features)  
White with an iridescent golden shine  
Elder brother of Purpled, both were abandoned at a young age by their parents.

**Fundy**  
Human/Fox (MUCH more fox)  
Reddish Orange  
Son of Wilbur and Sally, grandchild of Philza and nephew of Techno, Tommy, and (kinda) Tubbo. 

**Purpled**  
Human/Phantom  
Purple (obviously)  
Younger brother of Punz, both were abandoned at a young age by their parents.

**Wilbur**  
Human/Wither Skeleton hybrid  
Yellow  
Adopted son of Philza, adopted brother of Techno, Tommy, briefly raised alongside Tubbo, father of Fundy.  
In a romantic relationship with J.Schlatt, in a past romantic relationship with Sally.

**J.Schlatt/Jonathan Schlatt**  
Human/Ram  
Wood Brown  
Biological father of Tubbo, disowned from rest of family.  
In a romantic relationship with Wilbur, in a romantic relationship with Quackity, in a past romantic relationship with an unnamed partner.

**Skeppy**  
Human/Diamond Block  
Bright Teal  
No family  
In a romantic relationship with Badboyhalo

**Eret**  
Human/Beacon (Prophet) possibly also part Wither  
Strawberry pink  
No known family

**Jack Manifold**  
Human/Nether mob of some sort (he thinks blaze?)  
Split Red/Blue  
No family  


**Niki**  
Human/Enderman/Unknown (Mostly human and can pass as one)  
Pastel pink  
Elder sister of Ranboo  
In a romantic relationship with Puffy

**Quackity**  
Human/Duck Hybrid  
Dark blue  
Unknown family  
In a romantic relationship with Karl and Sapnap, in a (seperate) romantic relationship with Schlatt

**Karl**  
Glitched human (unknown hybrid status?)  
Glitchy, but color settles sometimes into either a bright purple, green, or white.  
No family  
In a romantic relationship with Quackity and Sapnap

**Techno**  
Human/Piglin  
Pink  
Adopted son of Philza, adopted brother of Wilbur, Tommy, briefly raised alongside Tubbo. Uncle of Fundy.

**Antfrost**  
Human/Cat (VERY cat)  
Beige  
No known family

**Philza**  
Human/Owl Hybrid  
Dark Green  
Adopted father of Techno, Wilbur, Tommy, briefly raised Tubbo, grandfather of Fundy.

**Puffy**  
Human/Sheep Hybrid  
Rainbow  
Briefly cared for Dream and Drista when they were children, though not particularly his mother  
In a romantic relationship with Niki

**Ranboo**  
Enderman/Unknown Hybrid (no part human, just has player code)  
Bright green on enderman side and bright red on unknown side. (whichever side they touch them with marks that color.)  
Younger sibling of Niki


	2. Out in the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be a peaceful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First actual chapter! This is not beta read because I die like Edward. This chapter is a tiny bit shorter than the other ones will be because it is mostly plot set-up, sorry!

Of all the things anyone expected from them leaving the house from one of Techno’s ‘feelings’ was to find a collapsed, injured teenager out in the rain, but life just loves to throw curveballs at them.

The day had started quite normal, if a little relaxed, most of them had stayed inside due to the oncoming rainstorm, playing card games with the hum of Tommy’s discs in the background.

This makes it a surprise when Techno tells them that he feels like something is wrong.

Most of the time his random ‘feelings’ are right, probably a mob attribute he got from his piglin side, the first time he got it they were on an adventure, and he just nearly saved Tommy from walking straight into a ravine, the second time Eret got incredibly sick and him panic making healing potions before is half of why they didn’t need to respawn, and there were a few times after that.

They check around the house for things that could be wrong, none of the furnaces are on or broken to cause a burn, the fireplace is off, none of their rooms have anything weird and none of the furniture seems about to break.

After a few hours of Techno slowly growing paranoia that something is wrong outside and he just KNOWS it (plus Eret backing him up, saying that something does feel a bit strange), they decide to humor them to settle their worries and go a bit from the house to check if anything is wrong.  
Techno goes out, along with Dream and Wilbur, who are the most likely to be able to drag him back if nothing is there, they take a few of the horses and ride out, just for a few laps to make sure everything’s okay.

They check around the house first and find nothing amiss before going down different paths, finding nothing strange.

“Techno,” Dream says after a while of looking around, they’ve gone down almost every path by now, “We’ve been out here for almost 15 minutes, there isn’t anything out here.” He says, trying to sound patient but clearly getting annoyed being out in the rain.

“But there IS though,” Techno groaned, also getting annoyed looking around to no avail.

“Looking around a bit more won’t hurt,” Wilbur adds, trying to mediate.

Before Dream can respond, they hear a soft vwoop of a teleport and see Techno’s enderman friend, Edward, standing under a tree near them, safe from the rain.

“Is he what you’re looking for?” Dream says sarcastically, and Techno shakes his head.

“ʖꖎ𝙹𝙹↸ ⊣𝙹↸,” The enderman says, their voice distorted and garbled.

“Edward,” Techno says, a small stressed smile tugging his lips, “What are you doing out here in the rain?”

“ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷ 𝙹リᒷ.” The enderman replies, pointing in a direction they haven’t gone down the path, “⍑||ʖ∷╎↸”

“Is that the way we’re supposed to go?” Techno asks, nudging his head in the direction where Edward is pointing.

“Yᒷᓭ, ⊣𝙹 ᑑ⚍╎ᓵꖌ, ╎リ⋮⚍∷ᒷ↸,” Edward responds.

“Thanks, Edward.” Techno says, “Come on, let’s go.”

They go down the directions Edward gave them, as vague as they were, the path is slick with water but nothing seems strange.

“There’s nothing down here.” Dream says pessimistically.

“Give it a minute.” Techno replies.

“I’ve ‘given it a minute’ for the past what, seventeen now?”

“What’s that?” Wilbur cuts in, pointing down the path, they follow were he’s pointing and see a form collapsed on the ground, staining the path around them red, blue, and purple.

“Shit.” Techno curses softly, jumping off his horse and running to the figure, being quickly followed by the other two.

Techno kneels over them, trying to assess the damage (if any) so he doesn’t accidentally kill them when he has to move them.

They are a clear hybrid, face a precise cut down the middle of black and white, freckles of the opposite color fighting over the middle of their face, their hair is soaked with rain and the same mix of color. Most of their skin is at least vaguely burned, the remaining raindrops that are slowing make a horrible sizzle when they hit his skin, and Techno quickly moves to drape his cloak over them to protect their skin as much as he can over the burns that were already there.

They are bleeding from their shoulder, staining their white dress shirt. After placing a hand on their forehead Techno finds them to be worryingly cold.

“We need to get them back quickly, they’re probably hypothermic,” Techno says, draping his cloak over them and lifting them, careful to not rock them too much or apply pressure to their damaged shoulder, they are quite lanky but worryingly light, but it makes it easy to carry him and get back onto Carl.

Wilbur stays behind a few seconds to pick up a few items on the ground that are probably the hybrids, before jumping on his own horse. They go back to the house as quickly as they can without jostling the injured teen that Techno is holding.

They jump off their horses when they get back, and Dream assures them he’ll bring the horses to the stable and that they should just go in as Techno climbs off his horse carefully, Techno gives him a quick nod before speedwalking to the door, Wilbur following after him.

Techno all but kicks in the door, stomping into the house.

“PONK, BAD!” Techno shouts, he sees vaguely in his peripheral Tommy and Tubbo try to come to see what’s going on in the hall and get blocked by Phil.

Bad runs into the room, opening his mouth to say something but stopping when he sees the sopping wet and badly burnt teen in Techno’s arms.

“Help, please,” Techno asks and Bad nods, running off to set up the medical room while Techno walks there as to not rock the injured teen.

Niki walks into the hall, dragged in by the commotion, but her eyes go wide in horror when she sees the hybrid.

“Ranboo?!” She hisses, coming closer to see them better.

“You know him?!” Wilbur asks, currently dragging off his sopping wet clothing.

“He’s my brother!” She replies, staring horrified at the limp body in Techno’s arms as he carries them off to the medical room.

Ponk walks into the medical room after Techno, helping Bad set things up as Techno slowly sets down the teen on the bed, under the lights more injuries are noticeable and Techno winces at the bruises he can SEE on the kid, nevermind whatever he has on skin that’s covered.

“Techno, go change, you’re not gonna be able to help if you get sick and you are dripping everywhere.” Bad orders, “Get us a change of clothes for him while you’re there.”

Techno leaves to follow said orders while Bad and Ponk get to work.

They take off the outer layers of clothing, drying the hybrid’s skin as much as they can from water until it seems like they’re only soaking up blood, gladly they don’t need to take off the undergarments and they get to work finding all the injuries.

They have an arrow wound in their shoulder, possibly breaking their collarbone, one of their ankles is heavily swollen but not broken, probably recently dislocated and put back into place. They are burned all over but not too deeply (probably no irreversible damage with healing/regens) and have significant bruising. More worrying but less in need of medical attention are straight, deep but treated cuts on their wrists, going up to their elbow, self-inflicted probably, the same marks are on their thighs.

They get to work, the most worrying is the shoulder, they find the end of the arrow still in it, plugging up most of the bleeding, so they carefully remove it and carefully pour a bit of regen into the wound, instant heal would work faster but is more likely to cause damage or not heal correctly, their collarbone has a crack but should heal by its own with the regen.

They bandage as many of the burns as they can with bandages dipped in regen, most should heal within a day most, they make sure to warm up the regen to very vaguely warm so that it won’t cause them to get colder. The burns are not too bad, if they were not on most of their body it would probably only be first or second degree, but more surprising is after they are cleaned up and being bandaged they can’t find any soulmarks on the teen. Originally they just thought it was covered by the burns and the clothing, but they don’t even find an outline of a mark, even though on the very dark and very light skin it would probably be very easy to see.

Putting that aside, they focus on bandaging the ankle so that it won’t move around too much, and for good measure put some gauze over the cuts on their thighs and wrists.

By then Techno has returned with a pair of clothing and he helps them dress the limp hybrid, it is old clothing from the antarctic empire and will significantly help in heating him.

After that, they move him to the actual beds to sleep in and layer blankets on top of him.

Techno walks out of the medical room, planning to start making some of his potato stew for when the teen wakes up when he accidentally topples over two of the four awake and living teens who were leaning against the door, Tommy and Tubbo.

“What are you two doing?” He asks, voice calm and monotonous.

“We just wanted to know what was going on! You were all so quiet! Are they sleeping?” Tommy yells back, fallen on his ass in front of the door.

Techno snorts, grabbing him by the back of the shirt like an angry kitten and setting him on his feet, “You’re a brat, both of you come help me start some stew or fuck off to your rooms until dinner.” He says, sweeping off to the kitchen and hearing footsteps follow him.

“You didn’t answer me!” Tommy whines, sitting across from where Techno is standing at the counter, digging for a knife to peel the potatoes.

“They’re not asleep, but they’re passed out, probably will be out for a few days,” He responds, moving to set up the pot and start a broth.

“Is it true that they’re Niki’s brother?” Tubbo asks, sitting next to Tommy.

Techno snorts, “I know about as much about that as you do kid, you should ask her.” He says, handing each a potato and a peeler, “I am trusting you to peel these without cutting yourself, okay?” He says.

Both nod, taking the items and starting on their tasks, falling into simple conversation and little arguments while Techno works on cutting ingredients.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some translations for what Edward said
> 
> ʖꖎ𝙹𝙹↸ ⊣𝙹↸ - Blood God  
> ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷ 𝙹リᒷ - Little One  
> ⍑||ʖ∷╎↸ - Hybrid  
> ||ᒷᓭ, ⊣𝙹 ᑑ⚍╎ᓵꖌ, ╎リ⋮⚍∷ᒷ↸ - Yes, Go quick, injured
> 
> If you like this fic you might wanna follow my tumblr (Lucky_Cr0w), I will answer some questions about the fic there and post some stuff about it occasionally! :>


	3. Comatose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo doesn’t remember how they got here. An argument takes place. Ranboo doesn’t know where their book is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo second chapter! I was originally gonna make this longer but felt that it had a good time to cut off and that updating sooner was better than later.

Rain beats down softly, the sizzle of it against their skin makes them wince even though the feeling has long sense left, pain and cold mixing and numbing their skin into only a faint ache.

They wished they knew where they were, or why they are injured. They remember Hypixel, arenas, and blood on their hands and victory, they remember before that, they remember Niki and the little town they grew up in, but how they got here slips through their hands like water in a filter.

The path is human-made, which they don’t know if it is comforting or not, they think they are trying to get away from someone, but they would rather not die out here from infected injuries and rain slowly dissolving their flesh to bone.

Were they running from someone? Their ankle feels weird to step on, maybe they twisted it, the forest warps and repeats and they are unaware of if they are walking in circles or not, memory blanking and repeating like a disc that is broken, they’d check their memory book, clutched tight to their chest, but their hands are far too shaky and numb to try.

Their foot catches on something and they trip onto slippery stone ground, crown clanging painfully off of their head and rolling next to them. They lay on the ground limply, too tired to lift themself and instead choosing to curl up like it will save them from rainfall. Their body feels like it weighs hundreds of pounds and they are just so, so tired. Teleporting will do that to you (did they teleport?)

They stare at their blood staining into the puddles and the reflecting gems on their crown and slowly daze into unconsciousness with a background tune of raindrops and enderman warbles and horse hooves.

When they are lifted off the ground into warm arms and a cloak is draped over them as they are carried to safety, they don’t feel it, drifting in an endless void of what they assume will be death to respawn while they are hurridly healed and draped in as many blankets as their saviors can scrounge up. Body and mind separated and feeling quite dead to the world.

Dinner was a quiet affair, tense and stilted with the looming conversation of the hybrid just a few rooms earlier, Ponk had volunteered to watch Ranboo while they ate dinner and Techno had brought him a bowl first, but everyone besides him was at the table currently, both trying to avoid the topic and trying to get someone to say something about it.

“So,” Wilbur starts, stirring the remains of his stew around

“SO WHAT THE FUCK ABOUT THE NEW KID!” Tommy yells, slamming his hands on the table, forcing Bad and Tubbo to have to snatch up their bowls to save their dinners.

Techno sighs, “They’re injured but probably gonna be okay, I think the more concerning question is how they got here in the first place.”

“I didn’t whitelist them, but they got on the list somehow apparently.” Dream says, pulling out his communicator to show the new name on the list.

“Is he a hacker or dangerous or something?” Tubbo asks, looking a bit worried.

“From the little I’ve seen so far the kid looks pretty harmless.” Schlatt cut in, long since having finished his bowl and now nursing a small glass of whiskey.

“Quite the contrary actually!” Wilbur says, pulling something out of his inventory and setting a crown on the table, “He had this next to him!”

The crown is pretty normal, gold with misaligned and broken spikes that go into the shape of four-pointed stars, where one of the gems is meant to be is knocked off just leaving the gap where it is supposed to go.

“That’s a Hypixel crown.” Techno says, sounding as surprised as he can with his normal monotonous voice.

“What did you say his name was again?” Purpled asked, sliding the crown to himself and inspecting it.

“Ranboo.” Niki says softly, looking a little worse for wear, “His name is Ranboo.”

“Oh yeah, they were on Hypixel” Purpled states, handing the crown back, “Pretty high up on the leaderboards last time I was there.”

“Niki, you said you two were related, correct? Is it possible he was just looking for you?” Schlatt asks.

She sighs softly, “When we last saw each other it was,,, not on the best of terms, I doubt he was looking for me.”

“Not on the best of terms?” Wilbur asks.

“We had,,, a bit of an argument, it ended badly and then he disappeared to Hypixel, this is the first time I’ve seen him since.” She explains, voice slightly strained and clearly regretful.

“What was the argument about?” Schlatt asks, sounding vaguely concerned.

Niki pauses, opening her mouth and closing it a few times, unable to decide what words to say. “I think that is his business to tell you.” She decides on, voice stable and unmoving on this option.

Everyone seems to accept the response as much as they want to press it, if it is personal then dragging it out of her will just cause an argument.

“Do you think they will be dangerous to people besides you once they wake up?” Skeppy asks, speaking up for the first time this conversation, he knows that Bad will probably wanna watch the kid while they recover and doesn’t want Bad accidentally getting hurt because the kid is jumpy.

“No! Definitely not, he’s pretty harmless,” Niki says quickly, she doesn’t think any of them would harm him (especially knowing they’re related) but quite a few are protective enough that she doesn’t want to test it.

“That’s not really my experience,” Purpled states, finishing off the last of his stew and standing to put his bowl in the sink.

Everyone who finished but never got up take that as permission to also leave the table, setting bowls in the sink and falling into less serious chatter.

The next few days go quick, they are shockingly normal for the new presence in the house, the only difference being someone always in the room or close enough to know if they awaken. 

The hybrid heats up from their hypothermia well, spending a day or two buried under as many extra blankets as they can scrounge up and constantly having their temperature checked. 

After the cold comes the fever, and they are all left trying to cool down the one they were trying to heat up only hours earlier, which is infuriatingly hard on someone who can’t make contact with water.

Niki, after being banned from watching Ranboo due to taking other peoples shifts for quite a bit and both messing up the schedule and losing sleep, instead busies herself with fixing his clothing, most of it is dirty and torn and she has to completely remake his mask and gloves, but it keeps her busy and her mind off of worrying.

Others follow her lead, fixing up an empty guest room for when he wakes up, there is always warm stew ready and cool bottles of water.

It is Dream’s turn to watch him, one of his first, when he awakens for the first time. Dream had stepped out for a second, just to grab something, when Ranboo woke up.

They came to slowly, things drifting slowly into consciousness, first, they felt the ache, the pain of injured flesh desperately trying to heal itself with the help of repeated regen potions, but the pain is natural and they are used to it enough not to make any noise from it.

Next, they realize that they are not home, not that there was really a place they could consider home, but it certainly wasn’t their house, the constant chill of their house on Hypixel never hits them and they squint open their eyes to find completely new surroundings.

They move to try to sit up, but one of their arms is pinned against their chest and cannot move, they look down to find it bandaged against their chest, probably a collarbone fracture, their mind supplies them in a rare moment of usefulness.

They manage to maneuver their other arm to sit up, glancing around the room with bleary eyes. There are a few beds besides the one that you were on, the floor is tile but the room is mostly wooden. Probably a medical place, but it looks not even near the Hypixel one, with a few hundred beds and constant flux of people, unlike this small comfortable room.

How did they get here? They usually wrote down if they were leaving servers, but why would they leave Hypixel? They should probably check their memory book-

Wait, their memory book! That’d tell them what happened, they glance around, there is a bedside table with a few medical things on it, bandages, magma cream, watered down healing potions, but no book, guess they’ll have to get up and look around.

They use the table to help themself get up, the action makes them go lightheaded and they bite back a little whimper as the pounding in their head increases in volume.

After the pain recedes a little bit they open up the drawers, finding only more medical equipment, well that’s just lovely.

They look up from the drawer and find themself face-to-face with a mirror. They look quite worse for wear, there are gauze still on their cheeks slightly overlapping the corners of their mouth, the clothing that is on them is not theirs and they can feel more bandages under them.

They hear the soft thudding of footsteps approaching and turn towards the door quickly, freezing in place as it opens to show a person in a lime green hoodie with a mask on.

Ranboo can feel eye contact get made and it makes every instinct in them static, it _hurts _, like needles and thorns going into every inch of their body, a mix of ‘run run run run’ and ‘hurt them, protect yourself’ layer themself over each other in their brain and they accidentally let out an enderman warble of fear.__

____

____

“I-I’m sor-sorry,” They whimper out, much more slurred then they meant to be, “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I-” They are unaware of when they fall, but they feel gravity as their body lets out from under them and they drop to the floor, unconscious.

“Shit,” Dream hisses, running over to catch the Hybrid before they knock their head on the floor and barely managing to.

He manages to maneuver the teen onto the bed and under the blanket, sitting down in the chair they set up next to the bed before pulling out his communicator with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! If you are interested in the story feel free to follow my tumblr @Lucky_Cr0w, I will answer questions about the story there along with any art I make of the story :>


	4. Second Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo meets the admin of the server, their second awakening goes much better than their first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this one being a tiny bit shorter than the others, but I felt I needed to make a calmer more chill chapter after the stream Ranboo made today/yesterday (it was the Dream prison visit if you are reading this in the future.)
> 
> I hope you enjoy it anyways, it is a kinda mimicry of the fact that Dream 'killed' Ranboo twice when they first joined the SMP in canon, so Dream is there the first two times that Ranboo wakes up!

It is two days later when Ranboo wakes again, it is Dream’s first watch shift since last time when he accidentally made Ranboo pass out. He is sitting in the chair next to the hybrid’s bedside, reading some book that he was lent from Techno.

Ranboo lets out a small groan as they open bleary eyes, sitting up slowly, they feel uncomfortable and stuffy and their head feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton.

“Hello,” Dream says casually, trying not to startle the enderman hybrid, looking up from where his eyes had been on his book, goddamnit, why did they keep waking up when he was watching, as much as he likes to think he knows what to say in any situation, he really doesn’t have anything to go off here, and he thinks Bad will kill him if he makes the kid pass out again (even though that wasn’t really his fault in the first place).

Ranboo flinches from the noise, looking quickly over at the masked man in the chair next to them, he is the one from before right? The mask and the hoodie fit, so it probably is.

Ranboo looks up at their face to see the mask and goes tense to the point of pain when they make eye contact, a distressed warble falling out their mouth before they can stop it, “!¡ꖎᒷᔑᓭᒷ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ꖎ𝙹𝙹ꖌ ᔑℸ ̣ ᒲᒷ” They warble out, it is hard to even move their lips.

“What?” Dream asks, eyebrows furrowing as he stares at the panicking teen.

Ranboo takes in a wheezing breath, their throat is scratchy from unuse and sickness, “P-pleasestoplookingatme,” They say in a rush, hands trembling but unable to move any more than that.

Dream has a moment of confusion before realizing, _oh _, he’s an enderman hybrid, eye contact probably doesn't feel good, and quickly looks away, physically turning his head so it is clear even behind his mask that he isn’t looking.__

____

Ranboo breaths out slowly, the static in their chest slowly fading along with the all-consuming panic, and then immediately is sent into a fit of coughing, their chest forcing all air out as they desperately wheeze through it.

____

Dream grabs a bottle of cold water from the bedside table quickly, holding it out to Ranboo, who takes it gratefully, sipping carefully to not burn their lips after the coughing somewhat subsides.

____

“Thank you,” Ranboo says after, somewhat awkwardly, rubbing his hands on the smooth glass of the bottle, a somewhat soothing gesture.

____

“No problem,” Dream says back casually, leaning back in his chair, book long forgotten in his lap.

____

Ranboo stares awkwardly at Dream, pointedly avoiding looking at his face but studying him, wondering who he is, do they know him? Probably not, he doesn’t seem to recognize Ranboo either, then why is he helping them, does he want something from them?

____

“Who are you?” Ranboo decides on instead, tilting their head to the side softly.

____

“Dream,” He responds simply, “You’re Ranboo, correct?” He says, more of a statement than a question.

____

Ranboo nods anyways, “How do you know my name?” They ask, feeling quite stupid for asking so many questions a second after.

____

“Your sister, Niki, is here, she told us your name after we found you.” Dream explains, shrugging his shoulder slightly with the words.

____

“Oh,” Ranboo says dumbly, before their eyes widened in realization, “Wait, Niki’s here, like right now?” They ask, a mix of excitement and anxiety in their tone.

____

“Well, not in the house but she’s on the server, do you want me to tell the other’s you’re awake?” Dream asks, pulling out his communicator and hovering his hand over the ‘message’ button.

____

“Um,” Ranboo says, thinking, they’re gonna learn sooner or later right? It’s just like a bandaid, they should just pull it off, “Yeah, that’s fine.” They say, their voice meeker than they wanted it to be.

____

Dream nods, typing a simple message into chat, ignoring the surprised messages after it.

____

“Are you hungry?” He asks, putting away his communicator.

____

“Huh?” Ranboo asks, looking up from where they were fidgeting with their hands.

____

“Are you hungry?” Dream repeats, a bit slower.

____

“Um, I guess,” Ranboo says, they truly _are _, which is a bit concerning because they usually don’t notice when they are until it gets painful, but they don’t want to intrude, since these people (and their sister, wow thats strange) have already clearly spent medical supplies on them, they don’t want to intrude.__

______ _ _

“I’ll go get you a bowl of stew, stay here.” Dream says, getting out of his seat and walking out the door to the room, leaving Ranboo blinking owlishly at him behind his back.

______ _ _

Ranboo waits quietly for Dream to come back, everything is very confusing and the cotton feeling in their head isn’t making it any easier to understand, why are they using medical supplies for them, nevermind food? Is it because Niki, is she going to get in trouble for having her stupid little brother use up their supplies? Do they just have a lot of supplies and are willing to give them the scraps? Are they going to make them pay them back for this, hold this politeness over their head? Are they-

______ _ _

Dream walks back in, kicking the door closed behind him as he walks over, holding a metal tray with a bowl of stew, another cold bottle of water, and some bread on it, setting it down in Ranboo’s lap after realizing that Ranboo probably won’t be able to hold the tray with just one arm, the other still wrapped to stabilize their collar bone.

______ _ _

“Sorry it’s not anything bigger, but you’ve been out for a few days and you’ll probably puke up anything heavier.” Dream explains, sitting back down in his seat.

______ _ _

“Oh, it’s fine!” Ranboo assures quickly, confused by Dream apologizing for not giving them _more _, this is already plenty.__

________ _ _ _ _

Ranboo blows softly on the stew before taking a small bite, it is absolutely _delicious _and it takes everything in them to not just dig in, but their need to be polite because they are a _guest _overrides this and they eat slowly, looking over at Dream every few seconds, worried they might be stepping on some line.____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dream doesn’t seem to really care what they’re doing, fucking around on his communicator, clearly typing but Ranboo cannot see what.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“ _Probably about you _” Their mind supplies them, “ _probably about how terrible they are, how happy they’ll be when you’re gone _”____

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“ _Shut up, _” They think back, enough years of practice with anxiety to not dwell on it too long, even if it is true it is not worth it to focus on currently.__

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Hey Ranboo,” Dream says, breaking Ranboo out of their internal argument, “do you know how you got on this server, I never whitelisted you.” Dream asks, the words aren’t as much an accusation as they are curious, and he doesn’t seem mad.

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“ _Yet _” their mind supplies and they push it down angrily.__

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I don’t know,” They admit, fidgeting with the spoon in their hand, “I don’t really,,,, remember, sorry.” They say truthfully. They remember being in the rain and the stinging of it and there was an arrow, right? But trying to find out why they were there falls away from them every time they move to grasp it, just out of reach.

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Hm, okay.” Dream responds, almost infuriatingly blank, “Just tell me if you remember, alright? I don’t want a security breach or something.” He says, going back to his communicator

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Of course,” Ranboo responds, silently promising themself, shamefully, that they won’t if it is anything someone might get mad at them for, they don’t want to risk the rage and the _pain _that comes with doing something others don’t like, even if they didn’t mean harm.__

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

By the time they finish off the rest of their stew and bread, they feel incredibly tired, even holding up their spoon is exhausting and they have to stop themself from just collapsing back into the bed.

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dream takes the empty tray before they notice, standing up with it, “I’ll take this to the kitchen, you should go back to bed, you look like you’re about to collapse.” He says calmly.

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“But what about the others?” Ranboo asks softly, expecting to have to meet them.

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“They’ll be here when you wake up,” Dream shrugs, “You need rest, you’re still healing, just go to sleep.”

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ranboo doesn’t argue, too tired to, laying back into the bed and fading into a blissful void.

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, chapter over, I hope you enjoyed it! It was fun to write since it was less serious and more lighthearted (with a bit sadder bits here and there.) I swear other characters will be interacting with Ranboo next chapter!


	5. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo doesn’t have the best dreams. Tommy is still the youngest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a big hard to follow, but half of it is a fever dream so I felt it was fitting!

Nightmares are not uncommon for Ranboo, not since young childhood, anxiety mixing their subconscious into terrible visions that leave them scared of sleep for days after.

They learned to deal with it, slowly, though the fear of what their brain will do to them while they sleep never really leaves, giving them insomnia on most nights.

When they process they are in a field, the grass under them instead crisp and black, obsidian? They realize it is a dream, but can’t pull themself out of it, pinching themself doesn’t even work, so they accept that they’re gonna have to deal with the horror of this dream. The sky is a starry black sky that feels strangely nostalgic and they see a weird, beige cobblestone in the distance.

“RANBOO!” They hear a yell, turning quickly to see Niki standing there, tears going down her face, “Where are you going?” She asks, her voice echoes, and when Ranboo turns back around he is instead standing in front of a server portal, it glimmers enticingly.

“I’m sorry Niki, I just,,,,,, I need to leave.” Their own voice says, out of their control as much as they want to swallow down the words, “This place, it’s not safe for me, it isn’t safe for you either, I’m sorry.”

“So are you just going to leave me?!” She asks, and a part of them processes that this isn’t how this conversation went, these words are not their sisters, but it hurts none the less, their chest aching in pain.

“I’m sorry, Niki.” They say, and they can feel the sting of tears burning their cheeks, even though it is fake, “I promise I’ll come back for you, okay?” They promise emptily, one hand reaching out to touch the frame of the portal.

Niki sobs and they again process the fakeness of it, the fact that Niki softly wished them farewell, she did not scream or fight and it hurt just as much, but this is a dream and it is worse, “You’re not gonna even leave me with anything?” She asks, her voice doesn’t sound as sad as it should be.

“ _Its a dream _” They remind themself, “ _Its a dream its a dream its a dream _”____

________ _ _ _ _

Their body carries itself through the portal as the outlines of an unfinished soulmark sting along their back, it is Niki’s, they know it’s Niki’s, a hug most likely, but never fulfilled, just the outline staying to show that it should exist and doesn’t.

_____ _

They are on one of the skyblock islands, the sky a bitter red as they shove a pickaxe through someone’s face, hearing the sickening crunch of their jaw and then their skull and then seeing it go through, blood splattering on quartz as they kick the body off the island to make the respawn a bit easier ( _it’s the least they could do, they hope others do the same for them if they lose. _)__

_______ _ _ _

There is a sharp sound of a blade drawn and they quickly dodge from a swipe, turning to their next opponent, their face is empty static in their brain, long forgotten along with endless other foes, but the movements are detailed enough, guilt pools in their chest that they forget the person’s face but not the way they fought.

_______ _ _ _

They quickly disarm the person, hooking their blade with the pickaxe they’re using and tossing it over the edge and sending the person tumbling after it, running along one of the cobblestone pathways over an empty void, digging through chests.

_______ _ _ _

The ding of the next person dying makes its way into their ears over the roaring of blood, just one left besides them.

_______ _ _ _

They turn and the sky looks different, blue instead of orangish-red.

_______ _ _ _

The cold of metal in their chest hits them all at once and they gasp for air as they feel the slide of it drawing out, dropping to their knees and looking up at an enemy in front of them, face only static but they know they’re smiling, they know it _theyknowittheynknowit. ___

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_________ _ _ _ _ _

They wake up with a start, sitting up quickly and looking around the room.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Oh yeah, they’re just here, good that they’re remembering this place at least, usually, it takes a few more times before they remember.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

They wonder what this place is called ( _if anything _), servers like this usually have names, maybe they were told it and just forgot, they do that often.__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They look around, never truly processing the place, the first time in too much of a panic and the second time too focused on the person that was here.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

‘ _Dream _’ Their mind supplies them the name, and they thank it mentally, slowly sliding the blanket off of them and standing up, having to lean more on one leg from the other being sore.__

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They realize dimly that the clothing they’re wearing isn’t theirs, it is in reds and golds and is a bit baggy on their lanky frame, though it is long enough surprisingly.

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They glance around the room, not much has changed they’re pretty sure, the chair that Dream was sitting in is moved to the side so that someone could stand next to the bed easily.

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They walk wearily to the door, holding out their hand to the knob, pausing briefly when they notice their usual gloves aren’t on, the lack of calming pressure is a bit disorienting, but they move on from it, steeling themself and opening the door.

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They don’t know what they expected on the other side, but there is no one, the room is white and in blocks easily cleaned, and clearly used for medical purposes, there are brewing stands currently bubbling away with some regen potions, half done and swirling vaguely pink.

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They chose to ignore it and walk to the other door in the room, taking far less time to open this door, stepping out into an empty hallway.

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There is a door to the outside, with some glass surrounding it, in one direction is a room with a table ( _dining room? _) and the other seems to be a living room, along with a staircase nearby leading up to the upstairs.__

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ranboo flinches slightly at the sound of quick footsteps approaching but chooses not to escape back into the room they came from. Whoever it is already known they left and if they’re gonna get in trouble they’ll get into more for running.

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A tall ( _not as tall as them _) blonde turns the corner from the assumed living room, a hand raised and mouth open before he seemed to realize it wasn’t who he thought it was and his mouth clamps shut.__

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh,” He says, “Hello Ranbow.” 

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“H-Hi,” They respond, cursing themself mentally for stuttering.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“How old are you?” The blonde asks, voice almost comically serious.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Uh,” Ranboo pauses, taking a second to remember, “16?” They say, confused.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“No- Wait,” He pauses to put his words together before continuing, “Were you born before or after April 9, 2004?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ranboo takes a second to do the math before answering, “Before,” They say, it feels correct enough in their brain that they go with it.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So you’re younger than me.” He states, a growing smile on his face.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well, no,” Ranboo responds, tilting their head slightly, “That’d make you younger than me.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The blonde stares for a few seconds, face blank, before throwing his hands up in rage, “WHY AM I STILL THE YOUNGEST!” He yells, going and stomping up the stairs, sending Ranboo into a fit of laughter, having to stop themself from doubling over because they probably wouldn’t be able to get back up.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There is a set of calmer footsteps and Ranboo almost thinks that the person came back when they see blonde hair but quickly realizes it’s a different person, their hair is a paler blonde than Tommy’s and they are wearing an oversized white hoodie.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh,” He says when he sees Ranboo, “Hi big man.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Uh, Hi,” Ranboo responds, waving slightly like they did for the other one.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Sorry about Tommy, he was waiting for you to wake up to ask how old you were, didn’t want to be the youngest anymore.” The new man snorts, _so Tommy was the other one _.__

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Sorry,” Ranboo says, out of impulse, and receives an eyebrow raise, oof, wrong response.

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Don’t worry about it, he’ll get over it,” He responds, shrugging, “I’m Punz by the way.”

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Uh, Ranboo, but you,,, probably,,,,, knew that,,,,,,,,,” Ranboo says, trailing off near the end.

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Punz stares at them for a second like he’s trying to decipher something, “Here, you can come sit in the living room while I tell the others that you’re awake,” Punz says, nudging his head in the direction of the living room before walking back into it.

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ranboo follows tentatively, wondering what the other people here are like.

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter! This is like the second time soulmarks are mentioned in this fic even though its a soulmate fic so,,,,,,,, sorry about that lmao.


	6. Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo is given a tour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned on posting this yesterday, but our internet went out so I had to wait, I hope you enjoy it anyways!

The living room is surprisingly large, with multiple long couches surrounding a tv ( _Ranboo doesn’t even want to KNOW the redstone that went into that _), a fireplace under the TV that is currently off, and a jukebox shoved into a corner with some chairs near it ( _that piques their interest, but they shove it down, no need to impose more than they have. _)____

_____ _

Ranboo nervously sits down on one of the couches when Punz motions to, curling into the corner of one with their tails wrapped around their leg while Punz leisurely sits on another across from them, typing something into his communicator.

_____ _

“Everyone else will be coming soon,” Punz says after sending the message, looking up at the curled up hybrid.

_____ _

“Um, how many people are on this server?” Ranboo asks, a twinge of anxiety forming in their stomach, they’ve never been good at meeting people, nevermind multiple, so the idea of meeting a lot of people at once makes them anxious.

_____ _

“A lot,” Punz admits, “Though most are a bit busy, so you’ll meet them all slowly.”

_____ _

“Okay,” Ranboo says, quieting down again as they fidget with their sleeves.

_____ _

They examine the room around them, feels very,,,,, lived in. Not in a bad way, it is semi-neat, though there just seems to be more proof of people being here than anywhere in Hypixel ( _~~or the tile of their childhood home ~~ _)_~~~~_

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

There are blankets thrown over the backs of couches and pillows misplaced, a hoodie or two are in random parts of the room like they were thrown off and forgotten. The coffee table in the middle of the couches has a few items thrown half-hazardly onto it.

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ranboo jumps softly at the swift noise of the door opening (it does not slam, but it is quick none-the-less), the fast footsteps ring nostalgia into Ranboo to the point they know who it is before they see her.

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

They look behind them as Niki slides into the room, a brief flash of panic goes through them that she’ll be angry with them, that she’ll yell and tell them to leave like they left the first time, but the bright but soft smile on her face soothes it quickly.

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Ranboo!” She says, voice excited but not loud, as she walks over, “You’re awake!”

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Yeah,” Ranboo says dumbly, immediately cursing themself for it, “It’s good to see you.”

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“You too! I was so worried,” She says, “They found you out in the rain and we thought you’d have to respawn,” 

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Oh,” Ranboo says, they remember briefly the rain and the slowly numbing pain of burns and the cold, “Sorry,”

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Niki smiles softly, “You don’t have to apologize, Ranboo,” She says, and Ranboo holds back a wince under her gaze.

____~~~~__~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“ _It's just Niki, she’s not even making eye contact, _” Their mind assures, but the feeling of discomfort doesn’t fade.__

____~~~~_____ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Do you want me to show you around?” Niki asks, “this place is big and I know how your memory is.”

____~~~~_____ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ramboo chuckles softly, nodding and unfurling themself so that they can stand, Niki moves like she is going to grab their hand to help them, but pauses and puts it back to her side slowly.

____~~~~_____ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

She leads Ranboo out of the room, them waving goodbye softly to Punz who waves leisurely back.

____~~~~_____ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“This is the main hallway, you can get everywhere from it.” Niki says, gesturing around, and Ranboo nods, mentally writing it down, wishing that they had their memory book to actually write it down.

____~~~~_____ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

_Oh god, their memory book, they were looking for that when they first woke up! _They scour their inventory for the thing quickly but don’t find it. They can see that Niki is talking but none of the sound registers besides ringing.__

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Hey Niki?” They ask shakily, cutting Niki off from whatever she was saying, “Do you know were my memory book is?”

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

She frowns slightly, “No, i’m sorry, I know Wilbur is the one who picked up your stuff when they found you, so we could ask him later.” She suggests, knowing how much those books matter to Ranboo, even past them keeping their memory, they were a comfort object and being without them wouldn’t be too good.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Okay, thanks.” Ranboo says, taking in a deep breath to calm themself, “You can keep giving me a tour if you want.” They say, watching Niki brighten back up.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Up there are the rooms, we set one up for you but didn’t want to move you up there while you were asleep.” Niki states, pointing up the staircase that Tommy stomped up earlier, “You are share a floor with Tommy, Tubbo, and Fundy.”

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ranboo nods, glancing briefly up the stairs as Niki leads them pass and into the other room down the hallway.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“This is the dining room! We usually all atleast eat dinner together.” Niki explains.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“How many people live here?” Ranboo asks, staring at the large dining table with many seats at it, some slightly displaced or turned.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Um,,, twenty-five I think?” Niki says, “Twenty-six counting you now!” She adds, smiling at Ranboo brightly.

____~~~~_______ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ranboo forces down the mild panic that being in a house with a lot of people causes, _Hypixel had many more people than that so it’s probably fine! ___

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

She leads them into the next room, “and this is the kitchen!” She states, this room is probably the most normal in the house, still large for a kitchen but not absolutely massive to fit the amount of people living there.

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“It’s nice.” Ranboo remarks softly, they can see the mostly cleaned up clutter that was probably from breakfast, but it does feel homey.

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, I use it to bake a lot.” Niki states, “Are you hungry?” She asks after, looking up at Ranboo.

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Um, a bit.” They say, the answer is probably yes, but currently the idea of food makes them a bit nauseous.

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“We have some stew that Techno set up when you first came, he kept it warm so that it’d be ready when you woke up.” Niki says, walking over to the furnace and taking the lid off the pot.

____~~~~_________ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

The smell of potato stew is nice, and Ranboo thinks its the same one they ate with the other person, _their name was a word, what was it? ___

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Their brain feels fuzzy and out of place, and when they blink back they are sitting at the table, eating stew slowly, Niki sitting across from them.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Niki seems to notice their sudden pause, “Did you blank out?” She asks, and Ranboo can see she’s snacking on some bread herself.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, sorry.” Ranboo admits, bringing the spoonful that they had in their hand when they came back into their mouth.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“It’s fine, what do you remember last.” She says, even though they haven’t seen eachother for a while she still remebers the basics of how to deal with Ranboo’s memory issues.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ranboo swallows the bite in their mouth, thinking back, “You were asking me if I was hungry and we were in the kitchen.” They state, anything past that feels fuzzy and fractured at the edges.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“That’s only a few minutes lost, this is your second bowl.” Niki states, filling in the blank.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

Ranboo nods, finishing the few bites left of this bowl of stew.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“So,” Ranboo starts, “Is this like, were you live now?” They ask, it feels so strange, for someone they grew up with, that they knew everything about at some point, to not know anything about anymore, they didn’t even know that Niki was here.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Yeah.” She says, “They’re my soulmates, we all live here together.” She explains, Ranboo can see her rubbing her thumb over a mark on her hand were they’re folded, a soft look in her eyes.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Are you happy here?” Ranboo asks, voice soft.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

“Yes.” Niki says, without hesitation, “Very much so.” She continues, a small smile tugging the sides of her mouth up.

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

_Well, thats good enough for Ranboo. ___

____~~~~___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to have more meetings and fun moments, but I felt that Niki and Ranboo deserved a moment alone.
> 
> If you like this feel free to follow my tumblr!
> 
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	7. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo finally meets everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being so much longer than the others! I really just wanted the introductions over, also I wrote all of this at like 5 am.
> 
> So you know I ignore canon heights, BBH is short and you can't stop me.

“And this is your room!” Niki exclaims, throwing her arms open dramatically in a way that makes Ranboo chuckle a little, gesturing around the room.

The room that they are being given? Lended? That they are going to be staying in currently, is nice, pretty large with a double bed that will fit their lanky body with empty chests to put stuff in.

“Sorry it’s not more decorated, we didn’t know what you’d want.” Niki says apologetically.

“It’s fine! This works perfectly.” Ranboo assures immediately, even if it didn’t they’d say the same thing, this is more than good enough.

Niki smiles at him, before seeming to remember something.

“One second, I made something for you!” She states and runs off out of the room and up the stairs.

“Probably was in her room.” Their mind supplies them and they nod, waiting patiently.

She returns down the stairs, holding something behind her back.

“When we found you your clothes were all ruined, sooooooooo,” She says, pulling the item from behind her back and holding it out, “I made you these! I also cleaned up what survived as best as I could.”

On top of the folded clothing is their crown, it was molded wrong and left it slightly warped and the jewels misaligned, they had been asked if they wanted it redone and denied, they like how it looks, and a warped crown feels fitting.

Their gloves and mask also sit on the pile, folded neatly, but their glasses are nowhere in sight, they stop themself from frowning at that and instead smile at Niki, taking the clothing gratefully.

“Thank you,” They say gratefully, looking at the new clothing.

“It’s no problem!” She responds, beaming, “Do you want me to leave for a moment so you can change?” 

Ranboo nods and she leaves, shutting the door behind her as Ranboo sets down the clothing on the dresser.

Even though they wish for the comforting texture of the gloves and mask, they forego them to not irritate the bandages on their face and hands, instead just quickly changing into the suit.

Taking off their shirt with one arm wrapped is difficult but they manage. They pause as they look at themself, without the clothing covering their injuries make them feel uneasy, the ache of not completely healed burns starting to actually register in their brain once they see them visibly.

They huff and put on their shirt, it being a button up helps with the wrapped arm even though buttoning it is a pain, and then put on the suit jacket, more of laying it on their shoulders than actually putting it on, not wanting to have to shift their arm anymore than necessary.

The fabric of the shirt and jacket are comforting compared to the scratchy texture that most have, and they rub their hands on the inside of the jacket a few times before shaking themself out of it and finishing putting on their clothing, setting their crown softly on their head before opening up the door again.

Niki is leaning against the wall waiting, and visibly brightens when she sees them again, clapping happily.

“You look so fancy!” She says, giggling slightly, and Ranboo smiles softly back.

“I’m a fancy lad,” They say, tail lashing happily as Niki laughs harder.

There is a light creak and a click of a door opening and closing and they pause, ear twitching at the noise. Light footsteps go up the stairs and anxiety raises in them as they look towards the stairs.

Niki looks behind her, following their eyes, and brightens when she sees the fox hybrid walk up the stairs.

“Fundy!” She says happily, and Ranboo sees a faint pink mark on the tip of “Fundy”’s ear light up when he sees Niki.

Fundy is a short (compared to Ranboo, atleast) fox hybrid, clearly more fox than human, wearing mostly black with just a white undershirt to compete with the dark clothing, Ranboo vaguely wonders how he isn’t hot.

“Hi Niki, hi Ranboo,” Fundy says casually, waving at both of them and Ranboo waves awkwardly back from behind Niki.

“Uh, hi. Fundy.” Ranboo says, speech stilted and awkward, if Fundy notices he doesn’t say anything.

Fundy looks up at him, the height difference large between the two, Ranboo briefly makes eye contact before quickly looking away, deciding they are definitely not in the correct headspace right now to try to make eye contact even if they might seem rude.

“Are you aware that your eye is red and your other one isn’t?” Fundy says suddenly, staring up at Ranboo.

Ranboo pauses very briefly, eyebrows rising, of all the questions they’ve gotten over the years about hybrid features that was a new one, “Uh, yeah, yeah I’m very aware.” They answer.

“What is up with that?” Fundy asks.

“Ummm, honestly I don’t even know. Haha get it, eye don’t even know? Yeah sorry I’m sorry.” They pause and smile awkwardly, “Yeah, but yeah.” They say with a nod.

“Don’t do that, don’t be a prankster.” Fundy says, voice almost comically serious.

“I’m-I’m not a prankster. I’m not what they’d call a prankster.” Ranboo reassures.

“Don’t be funny, don’t be funny.” Fundy says, correcting their previous statement.

“Okay.” Ranboo says briefly before Fundy continues.

“Also, your crown has like, jewels, and they’re not really aligned properly?” Fundy states, looking up at the crown balanced on Ranboo’s head.

“Mhm, that’s because I’m not aligned properly.” Ranboo says, finally getting Niki to break and start laughing.

Fundy stares at Ranboo blankly before huffing softly, which Ranboo takes as a win, cheering internally.

“Welcome to the dream essempi, Ranboo.” He says before walking off and Ranboo smiles behind his back.

They like Fundy.

The next one he meets is a man in 3d glasses, who walks down the stairs to meet them a bit after Fundy leaves. 

"Oh hey Ran boo, I'm Jack," He says, holding out a hand to shake Ranboo takes it, "Hey Jack," They reply awkwardly, 

Jack takes a step back, pulling out an iron ingot from his bag, "I wanted to start out on the right foot, so here you go," He says, handing over the iron ingot, 

"Oh, thank you!" They say, pleasently surprised as they pocket the ingot into their inventory, "Yeah, don't worry I think this is definately getting off on the right foot," 

"Great, I already have enough rivalries and don't need another," Jack says, starting a small laugh out of Ranboo, 

"Bye, I hope you like it here!" Jack says, waving as he walks off, 

Ranboo waves awkwardly back, a small smile on their face. 

It is a few more hours of being shown around by Niki (mostly being told how appliances work.) before more people come home.

The sound of the door opening and closing and arguing muffled by a few doors surprises Ranboo, making them jump slightly.

Niki isn’t frightened as much, instead just leading them into the hallway where they find two people bickering.

“I’m telling you bad I could’ve taken him.” One says, taking off their armor and shucking it on the ground half haphazardly.

“And I’m telling YOU that it would’ve been a bad idea!!” The other (Bad?) says, taking off their armor much more calmly.

The first is a tall man with hair that poofs upwards, diamonds climbing across his exposed skin, the second is a shorter man? demon? With black skin mostly covered by a black and red robe. The taller one has a red marking on his cheek in the shape of a hand, giving the appearance that it appeared when he was slapped, that is vivid in color, the demon has a matching mark on the opposite cheek in bright teal,

‘ _Soulmates_ ’ Ranboo thinks vaguely ‘ _and close ones at that_ ’

“And what are you two arguing about?” Niki asks fondly, crossing her arms in a mock of seriousness.

“Niki!” The taller one says happily, “Tell Bad that I totally could’ve wrestled a creeper and won!”

“You could NOT!” Bad says, shoving the other one but with no real force, “It would’ve just exploded.”

“Not if I was fast enough.” The other remarks, smirking, and Bad groans, burying his face in his hands.

“You’re going to get yourself killed.” Bad says, muffled by his hands, before sighing and standing back up straight.

Bad looks at Ranboo, they shift nervously and wave a bit, and Bad visibly brightens.

“You’re awake!” He says happily, “I thought you might be out for a few more days, it’s good to see you walking around!”

“Uh, yeah” Ranboo answers, rubbing the back of their neck nervously, “I don’t even really know how long I was out.”

“Three until you first woke up, and then two more after that, and then a day.” Bad says simply, and Ranboo is slightly surprised that he counted, but just chalks it up to others having better memory than them.

The taller one talks before Ranboo can respond, which they honestly prefer than trying to answer what Bad said.

“Since he’s apparently decided not to introduce us.” He says, gesturing at Bad and smiling when he whips around offended at the accusation, “I’m Skeppy, this is Bad but you probably heard.”

“Cool,” Ranboo answers dumbly, “I’m Ranboo but you probably already heard that.”

Skeppy nods, and Bad looks at Ranboo’s arm bandaged to their chest, “I can take that off if you want, it was easier to wrap it like that while you were asleep incase you shifted around, but you have to be careful with that arm.”

Ranboo nods, “Yeah, that’d be nice.” They say honestly, their arm feels pretty asleep from being in that position for so long without being able to move.

Bad nods and leads Ranboo back into the room next to the one they woke up in.

Hopefully unwrapping it won’t hurt too bad.

The next to come home is soon after Bad finishes unwrapping their arm, with the sound of humming and a guitar being strummed.

“Wilbur!” They hear Niki say happily and peak around the corner, seeing a tall (not as tall as them, but tall) man in a beanie and a yellow hoodie with brown hair pushed in front of their face, a guitar held carefully in one hand and the other being thrown around Niki in a loose hug.

Wilbur releases Niki and looks up, waving kindly at Ranboo who waves awkwardly back.

“Nice to see you awake big man!” He says, walking over casually, “I’m Wilbur.”

“It’s nice to be awake.” Ranboo responds, “I’m Ranboo but everyone already knows that.”

Wilbur laughs a little and nods, before his face lights up in realization and he digs a hand into his bag, pulling out a worn notebook with ‘Do Not Read’ embellished on top.

“I think this is yours, we found it with you, I would’ve given it to you earlier but you were asleep and I didn’t want someone to look through it.” He says, handing the notebook over to Ranboo who takes it gratefully, tucking it against their chest.

“Thank you.” They breathe gratefully, the book soothing their nerves in a way they can’t describe.

“No problem!” Wilbur responds, smiling brightly at him, “I hope you enjoy your time here Ranboo.” He says, patting Ranboo on the arm (softly, to not irritate any injuries) before walking past him into the living room.

Ranboo is sitting curled up in a chair, writing down all the information they learnt, along with adding a new page of ‘People’ to their book, with name and general description, when the next few appear.

They hear the door open along with laughter and a teakettle like wheeze, Ranboo can’t manage to discern what they’re saying as they walk into the room, but they tense when they feel eyes land on them, even though they can only see one of the people’s eyes.

One is the green one with the mask that was there when they woke up before, Dr-Dray? Dream? Yes, Dream. On one side of him is a man in blue with goggles covering his eyes, and on the other a man with a bandana across his forehead.

There is a moment of awkward silence where they just stare at each other before Ranboo decides to break it.

“Uh, Hi.” They say, oh so eloquently, they really need to get more introductions.

“Hi,” The one in the bandana answers, “We kinda forgot you were awake, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” They answer, they would probably be offended but they have no room to judge someone for forgetting something.

“I’m Sapnap, this is George, and that’s Dream but you probably knew that.” Sapnap says, gesturing at the man in the goggles and then the masked one, _so Ranboo was right about Dream’s name._

“Hi,” George says after, followed by Dream saying a little ‘yo’.

“Nice to meet you, well, besides Dream, we already met,” Ranboo answers, writing down their names and descriptions into the book.

“Nice to meet you too,” Sapnap says and they walk off to continue their conversation, leaving Ranboo to their writing.

The next is a quieter one at least, one with a blue mask covering half of his face and reindeer antlers stretching out of his head, sticking out of holes in a onesie he is wearing that Ranboo thinks must not be the best to wear outside.

He sees Ranboo and waves happily, Ranboo waving back in return, he writes down a quick note on a paper and hands it over.

On it is written simply ‘I’m Callahan.’, Ranboo nods at the note and looks up at the masked person.

“Can you hear?” They ask, not wanting to introduce themself to someone who is deaf, and receive a nod in return.

“Okay, I’m Ranboo.” They say, holding out a hand which Callahan shakes happily.

He signs something that Ranboo can’t understand before laughing slightly and walking off.

Ranboo stares after him confused before shrugging and writing down simply.

‘Callahan - Reindeer horns and mask? - Can’t speak’

The next is also calm but just as weird, a man taller than him walking in, covered up to his elbows in redstone, he looks over at Ranboo as he walks into the living room, nodding at him in acknowledgement.

“You’re Ranboo, right?” He asks, and Ranboo nods, not really wanting to talk anymore than they have to.

“I’m Sam,” He states simply, digging around in a chest for something before looking over, just a bit of concern in his eyes, “You doing okay? You were asleep for quite a while.”

“I’m fine,” Ranboo reasures, smiling slightly, Sam seems to take it as a good enough answer and nods, standing up.

“Well, I’ll see you around.” He states simply before saluting him and walking off back outside.

Ranboo writes in ‘Sam - Creeper Hybrid, Tall - Nice’

Ranboo is going to walk up to their room when the next walks in, a boy about their age dressed completely in purple, they vaguely recognize him but don’t know from where.

“Oh, hey.” He says casually when he spots Ranboo, before walking off, not even introducing himself.

Ranboo pauses before simply shrugging and continuing to their room, writing down ‘???? - Purple’

The next is another in purple, but a green spiral sticks out on the middle of his hoodie.

“Oh, hi Ranboo.” He says, waving at Ranboo casually, something about it makes Ranboo feel strangely like Karl has seen them before, but they shove that down to just random suspicion due to talking to so many people today, or maybe Karl just recognizes them from hypixel.

“Hey,” They say, and then follow it up with, “Who are you?”

“Oh,” The person says, “I’m Karl, sorry I should’ve introduced myself,”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” Ranboo reassures, smiling slightly, careful not to show fangs, humans usually don’t like when they do, they find it intimidating, “Nice to meet you Karl.”

Karl smiles back awkwardly but not unkindly, “Nice to meet you too Ranboo.” He states, waving and then walking off.

Well, that could’ve gone worse.

‘Karl - Spiral hoodie, brown hair’

There is a bit of a stumbling sound and Ranboo suppresses a flinch from where they are sitting at the table, Niki gave them some bread to try to snack on since they need to make up for the lack of food from a few days of being passed out.

A man with ram horns walks into the room, well more of stumbles, eyes focusing vaguely on Ranboo.

“Oh,” He states simply, “You’re the kid that’s been asleep for a few days aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ranboo answers, “Hi?”

He walks over, the stumbling and swaying suddenly gone, and holds out a hand for Ranboo to shake, “I’m J.Schlatt”

“Ranboo,” They answer, shaking Schlatt’s hand, his hold is strong to the point it is vaguely uncomfortable but they don’t complain.

“I’ll be seeing you around Ranboo,” Schlatt says, pulling his hand away and walking out.

“Okay,,,” Ranboo says quietly from behind Schlatt’s back, probably unheard, and writes down a quick entry.

‘J.Schlatt - Ram hybrid - Kinda weird’

That seems fitting.

They are quietly sitting near Niki when the next walks in, a woman with fluffy hair that curls in on itself in little rings, it reminds Ranboo of a sheep.

“Hey Niki,” She greets, seemingly not noticing Ranboo, kissing her on the cheek.

Niki flushes and Ranboo blinks a bit, surprised, they watch the woman look a bit confused before she looks up and sees Ranboo.

“Oh,” She says, blushing a bit, “Hi,”

“Hi,” Ranboo answers back, still a bit confused.

“I’m captain Puffy, but you can just call me Puffy.” She says.

“I’m Ranboo,” Ranboo says, and follows it up with, “I like your name,”

“Oh, thank you!” Puffy says, smiling brightly, she reaches out and Ranboo has a brief moment of expecting her to grab them when she pats them on the head, the affection feels strangely forren, “It’s nice to see you awake.”

“It’s nice to be awake,” Ranboo says with a little chuckle, “I’d say sleeping that long was boring but it wasn’t like I was there for it.”

Puffy laughs a bit at that, smiling at them, “Yeah, I get it,” She says, “I’ll see you around Ranboo,” She says, walking out with a little wave towards them both, and Ranboo sees the tentative wave that Niki sends her back.

‘Puffy - Long fluffy hair - Dating Niki?’

Ranboo is less surprised when the next person walks in, she is tall with short hair and shades on, hiding her eyes, and Ranboo vaguely envies her for it, missing their own glasses.

“Hi,” She greets calmly, her voice is calmingly deep, “I’m Eret, any pronouns.”

“Uh, Ranboo,,,,,,, He/Him,” They state, ignoring how their mind screams ‘WRONG WRONG WRONG’ at the pronouns they chose.

“Nice,” She says, following it up quickly with, “I like your crown, we match.” She flicks her own crown on her head, making a satisfying metallic ‘ding’.

“Oh, thanks,” Ranboo says, surprised, not used to compliments and certainly not on that, “Yours looks better than mine though.”

“Yours has more character though,” Eret states, smiling “Mine is boring, you could find fifty of the same kind.”

Ranboo shrugs, never really thinking of looking at it that way, “I guess.”

Eret smiles at their answer, Ranboo can tell they’re making eye contact from behind her glasses but strangely doesn’t feel uncomfortable by it, “It’s nice to meet you Ranboo,”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Ranboo says softly, blinking at Eret as she waves and leaves the room again.

“Huh,” They say softly to themself, writing it down.

‘Eret - Crown and shades - Uses any pronouns, eye contact doesn’t hurt?’

The next are a piglin hybrid and a man with wings, even though Ranboo has seen plenty of hybrids, those with wings are rare and they force themself not to stare.

“Oh, ‘ello mate!” The one with wings says, accent very apparent.

“Hi,” Ranboo says, and wow they REALLY need to find some more introductions if this is gonna keep happening.

“I’m Phil,” The one with wings greets, smiling kindly, “and this is Techno.”

“Hullo,” Techno says calmly, shrugging off a heavy red cape.

“Nice to meet you,” Ranboo responds,

“How you feeling mate, you were out for quite a bit,” Phil asks, worry clear on his face.

“Oh, i’m fine!” Ranboo reassures quickly, “A bit sore all over but not too bad.”

“Well, better than still being asleep.” Phil says, still looking a bit worried.

“Or dead,” Techno adds, shocking a small laugh out of Ranboo,

“Yeah, or dead.” They state, shoulders shaking a little in laughter, and they catch the smirk that Techno tries to hide.

‘Phil - Wings - Nice, dad vibes’  
‘Techno - Piglin hybrid, pink - Weird but in a good way’

Ranboo isn’t even surprised when they hear the padding footsteps of someone else, watching as a, cat hybrid? Walks into the room.

He is much more cat than human, skin all furry like a siamese cat, but he smiles when he sees Ranboo like he was looking for him.

“Hi!” He says, approaching calmly like he’s expecting Ranboo to jump away, “I wanted to say hello since I heard you were awake. I’m Antfrost,”

“Hello,” Ranboo responds softly, smiling at him.

Antfrost pauses before going into their inventory, “Oh, I got you something while you were asleep!” He states, pulling out a golden apple and holding it out.

Ranboo stares at it with wide eyes for a few seconds before taking it slowly, even though they are not particularly the most expensive, all things considered, it still is an incredibly kind gift.

“Thank you,” They say, they feel the need to give Antfrost something, they open their inventory and see a few bamboo, that will work, “Here,” They say, handing it over.

Antfrost smiles at them, pupils widening a bit as he takes the gift, and Ranboo gets why Niki used to get so excited when theirs would do the same.

“This is friendship,” Ranboo states seriously, and Antfrost nods, mimicking their seriousness before laughing softly.

‘Antfrost - Cat hybrid - kind, gave you a golden apple’

It’s next to dinner time when another walks in, in a red and black mask covering most of his face.

He seems a bit surprised to see them, blinking a few times before shaking himself out of it.

“Hello Ranboo,” He says, “I didn’t expect you to be out of bed.”

“I felt fine walking around,” Ranboo explains with a shrug,

He nods, “I’m Ponk, I do most of the medical stuff, besides Bad.” He explains, “Would you be okay with me looking over your injuries after dinner? I just want to make sure bandages didn’t get loose or something, we should also have you drink another regeneration potion.”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Ranboo replies, “Yeah I’m fine with that.”

“Good!” Ponk says, “If any of your injuries re-open or something also let me know, alright?”

“Of course,” Ranboo says, as much as they dislike asking for help, dealing with an infection is not on their to-do list currently.

‘Ponk - Red hood/mask - Doctor, tell if injured’

It’s halfway during dinner, Ranboo feeling semi-uncomfortable the whole time but not really being focused on, when two more appear, running in panting.

“Sorry for being late!” One apologizes, they’re brown haired with small horns and in a dark green button-up shirt that they put on wrong, “We were in a mine and didn’t realize how late it got!”

“And there were mobs.” The other says, Ranboo realizes that he also has wings, but they probably aren’t useful for much more than gliding or brief flight with their size compared to Phil’s.

“It’s fine, just sit down and eat.” Phil reassures, and both sit down, clearly tired from running, “You should introduce yourself, we have a new person here!”

The one in green looks up like he didn’t notice Ranboo before, “Oh sorry big man! I’m Tubbo!” He states, already digging into his bread.

“Quackity,” The other states, mouth already half full of food, and Ranboo chuckles slightly at that.

“Ranboo,” They say, more out of politeness than actually introducing themself.

The chatter returns after that, it feels much more calming than before, even when Tommy flings some of his half eaten bread across the table at Dream (whose mask is moved to the side to expose his mouth), and immediately gets an entire baked potato thrown back his way.

“Welcome to the Dream Essempi.” Niki whispers from next to them, giggling, and Ranboo nods.

_They could get used to this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for this chapter being so long, I might make the next few longer as well if this is preferred but it will take longer for them to come out, so please let me know if you would prefer shorter chapters sooner, or longer ones later!
> 
> I wrote this very late so if I screwed up anywhere please let me know lmao.
> 
> (if you like this think about following my tumblr @lucky_cr0w)


	8. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy wants to help Ranboo settle in, it goes worse than expected.
> 
> Also known as: Tommyinnit grounding speedrun any %

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter has quite a few instances of anxiety/panicking, descriptions of panic attacks (though they are not stated to be one), and other similar themes, so if that may be triggering I would suggest you skip it!

It is surprising how quickly Ranboo falls into routine with everyone else, fitting into place like a piece of a puzzle that no one knew was missing until they were there.

Ranboo gets used quickly to waking up to Tommy’s yells and the smell of breakfast cooking. They usually have a lot of free time to do their oldest (and only) hobby of people-watching, usually sitting in a chair in the living room that they’ve claimed as their own and watching as people come and go.

There is not much to do since they aren’t allowed to leave the house until fully healed, since everyone is worried about if it suddenly starts raining or if they get attacked by mobs, and Ranboo isn’t particularly jumping at the idea of arguing with anyone here anytime soon, so they deal with it.

They are brought back gifts often, Tubbo and Tommy ask their favorite flower the morning of their second day awake (Allium) and come back later with an entire crown that they drop happily on Ranboo’s head.

Ranboo still wonders how they managed to find so many, as aliums are pretty rare, but they don’t question it and keep the flower crown safely in a chest in their bedroom.

Other gifts are more useful, on their third day of being awake they find a large pack of straws on their dresser in their bedroom, and even though Ranboo doesn’t know who did it, they suspect it was Fundy from how shifty he was the next time they spoke.

Ranboo uses them often, much preferring them to the possible burns when they try to drink from bottles and glasses.

Niki bakes them almost comical amounts of pastries, though more than half are stolen by Tommy. Ranboo doesn’t mind, laughing when Tommy snatches one for himself, it’s not like they’re running out anytime soon.

It was only a matter of time before Tommy pulled them into one of his schemes.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ranboo asks, fidgeting uncomfortably with the sleeve of his dress shirt as he holds one of the markers that Tommy gave him to ‘grief’ George’s room.

“It will be fiiiiiiine!” Tommy assures, writing in big bold letters ‘FUCK YOU’ onto a sign, Ranboo thinks it’s a bit funny that Tommy is writing on signs instead of just on the walls, not actually harming the room at all, though Ranboo thinks the mushroom design of the outside and the almost barren inside is a little funny, “I doubt he’ll even notice, he’s blind as fuck.”

“He’s _colorblind_ ,” Ranboo corrects softly.

“Same thing!’

Ranboo snickers, placing down a sign over the door and writing a simple “Sad shack” and an arrow pointing to the room.

They tune out of Tommy’s yelling, watching him place crying obsidian on the floor, helping him and almost trapping both of them in the room when Tommy places it in front of the door.

It is going good until Tommy accidentally strikes aflint and steel, the wooden wall lighting up immediately.

“OH SHIT!” Tommy yells, scrambling backwards from the fire.

They scramble fo̸͉͋̉͠r̶̛͍̲̙ ̶̧͒̉̃s̴̙̳̈́̍̉̏ͅo̶͓̜̫̿͆̕m̵̮̜͚̎͑ē̴̢̼̄̈́t̴͕̹͘͝h̴͎̜̬̆͂̐i̵̺̊ṅ̸͇g̷͚̺͖̓ ̴̹͛̽͠t̶̳̽͂ọ̷̩̌̆̕ ̷͓̱̪̈́͆͌͜ṕ̴̳̣̌̓ũ̶͖̟ͅţ̷̭͈̤̿̾̓ ̶̧̟̮̣̈̈́̿̋̏t̴̗͋h̸̡̢͙̮̆́͝e̵̢̫̳̅̑̽͗͆̍ ̴͙̲̫̳̾͌̌̍͂f̵͔̭̋̐̈́͒̆͠i̶̧̖͙̲͇̞̬͐̇͂̔͘r̸̡̬̲̙͚͈̈͐̔e̴̡̪͍̤̳̖̣̿̐̋ ̵̡͊̕ǒ̵̡̼͜ù̸̠͚̱͖̞̖̕t̸̨̯͖̖̬̥̓͑̇͌͠ ̴́͛̐́̒ͅw̵̨̢̮̔͠ỉ̵̧͎̞͕̱̑́̏̏̃t̷͙̺̦̅̒̂̔͐̓̉ḧ̶̡̡͍͇̖͉̃͋̒͜͠,̴̨̰̝̦̗̙̓̎̓̍̕͜ ̶̩̿̊b̴͕̗͉͗̇r̶̲̟͍̺̙̊̍i̴̢͎͚͚͉͉̜̦͍̦̦͌͊̍̌̉͗̎̐̅͝e̵̛̯̙͎̟͋̀͆̆͗̇̐̿̽̓͂̋͛͆̿͝f̴̛͎̬̬̬̯̺̀̃͐͌̉̓̈́̀͘͘͘͠l̶̙͍͌͌̉̋̎̇̓̎̈͂̚y̴̡̩̼͖̦͕̼̜͚͙͍̐͛̆̂͐̂͆̚ ̴̠̒̑̒̽̅̂̈́͆́ͅt̷̫̲͎̲͓̟̰̥̦͍̿̾͝ë̸̯̙̖͍̤̹̥̦́̈̈́͗̈́͑͑̒̂͘͝ͅl̵͙̩̖̥̱̟͇̮̪̱̫̹̲͂̎̑̈́̔̇̌̊̕͜͝i̸̢͇̖̣͍͇̫̠͓̩̽͋̔̔̅̿̈̉͗͠͝p̸̥̉̏̎̒͒̍̒̋̐o̶̡̨̧̢̩͍͚̫̤̦̬̬̙͔̖̓͌̏̏͒͆̀͂͋͋̇͜͝͠ŗ̸̘̬̰̺͙̩̱͓͔̳̟̺̜̰̏̈̊͗t̴̡̢̢̨̜̬̗̜͕̩͋͊i̵̡̛̞͕͕̼̹̳͕̲̜̫̰͇͇͖̒̿͐̀̍̆̓̌̐̾̊ͅn̵̡̠͉̖̲̻͍̳̳̆̓͋͆̑̂̈́́͜͝͠ǧ̶͖̟̻͔̝̅̃͝͠ ̵̢̧͖̝͍͖͉̱̪͎̓̊̏ͅa̷̜̟̿͋̂̌̿̏̈́̑ć̶̨̳̻͎̯̞r̴̰͉̜̲̺̰̪̓̆͆͌͑̓̈̐̇̈̎͝o̸̬͓̰̗̟̼̯͕͈̭̝͖̜̅̉̈́͋͗͛̈́̔̋͗̔̾̚ş̴̮̖͕̮̣͈̦̱̞̼͇̙̩̭̙̻͛̑̆͆͐̽̈́͊̈́̊͠s̴̠̣̲͍͖̭̹̞̀͌̌ ̷̯̝̖̳̖͌̎̿̔̑͗̑̽͘͝ț̵͇̳̭͓̮͐h̷̡̯̮̮͔̘̖̲̲̬͔͔̣̟̏̆̆͒̄̓͠͝é̷̛͕͊͒͒̕ ̴̜͋̃̽̑̍̐̇̎̈́̍̄͘͘͝r̵̢̲͈͈̱̙͍̬͕̩̲͇͊̿̎̽̔͐̍̀ö̴͈̖̭̺̖̤͉̮̪͙͖͈̞̥͉́͗̈́͐̽͗̔̈́͆̈́͊͗̿͝ȱ̵̧̨̢͙̪͍̬̤͎̣̯͈̜̰̱̻̇̏m̶̢̺̱̗͔̰̣̙͇͉̖̫̥̥̳͌̊͋̌͊̔̍̅̋̅̔̊̐́̕͜ ̵̧͈̩̙̣͇̳̟͍̥̥̖͉̾ͅt̶̰͚͈͚̫̟̬̙͔͇̱͋͆̊͌̇̀ǫ̸̠̖̩̲̱̫͚͖̒̈́̈́̓͛̃͋̑͆̏̉͌͗͝ ̷̢̱̱̟̗̱̩͕͎͖̪̯͎̠̉͗̈́̎̄̀̈́̈͝͠͠ǭ̸̱̞̟̖̯͕͕̲͖͖͈̺̠̼̌̍̽̿̽̆̄̋̏͐ͅp̸̢̘̯̲̙̹̟̞̝̠̮̻̯͂͛̾̋̋͋̕͜͝ę̴̨͉̭̤̜̼͚̺̟̗̹̯̪͜͝ͅņ̸̖͑̒ ̴͚͇̗̳̺̜̫̥͙͓͚̟͙̤̿́̔̈́͊̎̍̅̿̀̆̿͆̑͘͜ͅa̶͓͕͖̣̥̲̯͍̦̮̅̃ ̴̨̧̻͓̘͍̣̟̯̼͕̦̦̼͇̲͛̌̚c̴̘͍̹͉̓̐̎̈́h̵̢̤̙͚̗̘͈̟̞̖̲̗̞̹̻̹̒̆̂͋̎͗͐̏͊̅̊̈̚̚͝ͅe̸̢̲̣̥̰͚͈̞͖̖̭̼̦̩̻̓̔̋̆̎̏͝͠s̶̢̡̛̰̹͓̠̘̹̣͍̰̰̍̇̾͛͘͘͝͠͝t̶̨̳̣͈̣̺̱̠͚̼̉̔́͊̌͛́̈́͑̓̃͒͛̇̎̓͝ ̴̛̲̠̣̭͔̮͈̟̳̯͕̦͖̖̝̂̆̇̍͛͛͑͗̀͊̉̃̒̓͜͝ͅt̶̨̗̼͖̺̓̉̆̀̾̀̀̓͑̓̽̊͝͝ḫ̸̨̛̦̙̪̲̳͇͈̣̪̻͇̞̽́̋͐̍̈́̄̔͐̽͑̄̑̚͜ͅͅä̵̢̺͖̝́̃ţ̶̩̦͉̣̞̪̟͍͓̭̠̌̅̾̽̚ ̷̠͋t̸̛̪͔̆̈́͂͘͝h̶͙̓͗̈́͗̚͘͠͝e̶̱͍̱̘͑̃̍͂̈̈́̈́͜ͅÿ̵̡̘̜̞̞̻͔̣̣̼́̍͝ ̶̧̛̛̥̺̻̬͙̣̻̗̦̰͉̟̳̄̄͑̄͌͛̈́̇̐̂̚͠ͅk̷͇̞̻̜̖̰͒͑ͅn̵̞̹̤͉̮͔͔͎̠̜̲͆̏̅͑̓̏̅͂͘͜͠ơ̷̧̙͚͓̞̮̤̟͕̩͍̯̩͇̄͆̽͂ͅͅw̵̦̬͎̘͓͎͑̈̆͠ ̷̢̡͍͖̙͚̝̩̰̫̟̒̈́͑͒̓̈̎̆̆̀̂h̴̦̊̇̏̉̔̓̎̃̔̅͌͠a̷̻͊͋͆̉́ṣ̶̂̀̐̂͑̕ ̵̢̡̢̝̙͔̹̯̖̞̹̭̲̲̒͐å̴̛͉͙̽̿̋͐͐̊͝ ̴̡̢̫̺̰̖̬͇̺̗̫̠̟̫̥̬̺͛̍͗̔̊̂͗́̈́̈́͐͝͠w̶̛̻͊͌̽̃̄͛̿̈͌̏̂͝͠ả̸̡̛̞̥̦̗̩̯̻͉̹̩̥̱͓̗̇͜͜ţ̵̨̧̯̫͇̞̤̯̥̫̘̭̱͑̐̌̃̏͗͛̉͐͋͘͠͝͝e̴͕̼͔̝̲͍͙̋͛̂̿̕͠r̶̢̨̧̢̳̯̮͙͇̪̫̤̥̉̈́̅̇̇͒̚ͅ ̸̢̨̧̧͙̯̩̙̲̞̲͍̦̂͋̀b̸̠͔̼̼̣͈͔̯̜̙͕̟̆̀ṳ̸̤̳̲̟̟̬̩̜̖̭͔͍̼͗̍͒͌̊̈́̌͒̓̊̚c̴͍̘̜̟̲̥̮̪̐͗͒͑̂͐͆̾͝ḱ̴̡̛̳̳̠̖͙̳̘̱̮̟͔̬̩͒̓͂̽̊͊̇̔͒̓͜͠e̶̢̺̖͕̙̻̣̓̈́̈̆̀̆̿̓̀̆̿͋̔͆͜͝͝ͅț̵̛̛̈́͂̂͗̽̏͛̅̊̅̐̋̕͘ ̴̡̛̪͍͈̞͕͓̲̰͎̳̰͆̌̒̋̍͑͂̆ͅḭ̷̧̰̯̬͖̯̯̭̖̩̼̿̈́͆̈̈́͜͝n̸̡̜̭͔̉̍͌̇͋͛̊͌̂̉̃̑̅͝ ̶͚̮͉͕̘̺̦͍̖̯̉͗̐̔̈̀͊̅͜͠ȉ̸̢̢̲͖̯̖̟̱͖̿̋̆̓̎ͅţ̵̝̯̭̝̥̲͇̥̳͚̩͈̰̪̘̖̾̆̏̽̓͑̕,̸̡̢̜̖͈͍̮̱̮̞̱̱͂̾͌̾̽̃̇͛̿ ̸̙̻̥̠̰̓̒͝ͅt̷̖͚̩̓͐̽̏̈̐͘͝͝h̸͈̰̮̝͚̝̰͇̄̐͗͐̔͊̍e̵̡̢̻̖͈̺͕͎̺͔̩̠͔̜͕̮̎̑̃̌̓̒̂̃̎̽̈́͋̚͠͝͠ ̶̛̺͙̹̒͌͂w̷̺͉͔̻̲̝̘̦̣͈̩̺͈͈̠̿ő̷̱̻̟̮̘̱́̎̄͝r̷̢͈̖̯̤̟͇̜̼̱͎̪̤̳̞̂́́̈́̿̈̎̾͘̚͝͝l̵̬͗̾̃͂̇̄͑̑̈͆͌͌̿̈̚̚͝ḑ̴̟̪̩̞͈͔̲̥̝̱̤͓̤̔͑ͅ ̶̨͖̯̠͖͓̞̳̪͛͒̊̄f̸̹̩̃́͆̇̿e̶̛͓̫͙͎͂̃̀͐͒̓̿̈́ͅe̵̠̔͋͛̌l̶̥̜̲̟̦̟̤̯̘̭̞̖̜͌͌̓̍͜ͅi̴̡̳̫̪̲̝̰͎͇̐̑ṋ̸̡̼̜̱͙̼͍͓̫͚̯̻̪͑ͅg̴̮͇̞͋́͛̑̆̑̍̄͜ ̵̡̧̨̼̙̬̞̪̳̼̱͚̯̬͔͆͐̐̔̈́̍͒͝f̵̡̦̪̰̱̞̞̤̻͇͕̿͘ủ̷̡͎̙̦̥͖͇͕͔͚̹̗̭̞z̴̢̡̢̢̟͔̹̤̬̦͇̍̋͌̔̃̕͝ͅz̵̤̭͕͖̥̹͕͉͒̐͆̽̒̂̇̕͘͠ȳ̵̢͉̣̭͖͇̞͓̥̗̭̜͎́͛̍̇̃͐̈́̄ͅ ̵̝̘̰͖̇͑͒̀́̂̾͌̽̍͛͝͝a̶̡̧̨̡͈̦̯̖̭̲͚̝̞̱͚̅͌͑̈́̕̕͝ẗ̷̜̫̳͈̝̙̭̼͖͈̗͔̻́̈́͜͝ ̵͇͙͓̫̙̑̅̌̔̿͊̋́͂̐̊͆͝ṫ̷̛͖̙͉̂̋͗͊̍̎͆͘͠h̵̙̳̬̭̞̯̳͉̞͕͇̲̠̺̓͆̈́͂̑̈̆͒́̔̀͒̚͜͠ͅe̷̫͍̝̖̩̥̜̻̥͈̲̯̼̞̽͒͛͋͌̏͆̿̑̂͠ ̶̧̣̖̦̮͈͎̓͒̏̂̑͌͑̉͌̑͜ȩ̴̫̣̜͔̬̳͚̲̙̰̠̬͇̄͌͑̓̇̾̊̍̍̆̈́̃͂̚͝d̷̡̹̹̤̋̾̓̔̊̍̽̈̄̑͊̍͊ͅg̶̩͖͖̦̼͎̺͍̣͙͂͂̔̐̃́̌͛̈́̑̌̑̚̚e̴͚͔͓̘̥̹̪̤͓͓͒̿̑̏͐̽̔͂͒̌͌̿̎͌̍ş̶̝̘̪̫̰̘͍̝̟͖̪̤̦̙̩̍̏̿̉̒͑͊͜ ̶̨̨̧̨̡̮͈͉̝̳̥̣̪̭͚͌̈̽̔̌̏̈́͘o̶̦͖̮̓̅̎̿͊̊̊͌̑͋͂̏͝͝͠f̴̢̡̗̮͖̱̣̠̃̑͂͂͛ ̸̫̮͇̱̼̺̯̟̠͖̜̻̖̓̇͛̓̿̂̉̄͝ͅt̷̩͎͔̺̪̦͍͖̰̓̐̋ͅh̸̲̫̣̫̖̪͐͋e̸̢̻͇̯͇̫̯̿͌̄͌͒̓̀̀̓͛̑̚̕͘̕i̴̲̿̀̄̈̿̈́̄̾̅̉̄͑̒̓̚̕r̶̳̜͉̣̳͐̀̉̋̌̋͛̃̔̊͋̄̕ ̶̢̞͕͔̙͇̺̀̔̈́͠v̸̫̠̤̪̻̾̐̆̈́̄̐̋ḯ̶̛̭̫̘̠̬̖̞͎͂̑̄̂̓̎̏̃̔s̷̨̨̮̳̟̱͔̬̺̗̖̳͂͜i̸̡̧͎̗̭̥͚̱̟̪̻̫͇͙̊̈̇̎͌̔̄̒̎̎͗̏͗o̶̢̧̘̝̝̘̲̻͔̹̟̖̅̏̏̈̈́̃̂̕ͅn̸̢͖͎̼͈͉̞͚̄̈̄̈͂̾͜ͅ ̸̹͒̈͐̎̀ą̷̥͖͔̫̩̱͍̞̥͙̲͇̓̇̍̎̔̌̇̈̋̑̉̒š̵̡̜̰̗̳̘̠͚͎̃̋͛̇̍̿͋̎ ̸̻̭̃̉͑͗ĭ̸̧̢̢͖̻̖̥̺̘͖̘̭̝̣̲͆͒̿̏̇͘͜t̸͉̫̟̳̣̼̟̙͉̬̘̉́̃̿͌͛͘͜ ̴̢͇̬̗̰̰̬͈̜̝̤̦̬̄̀͋͋̌̈͋̒͘͝ͅͅś̵̜̣͔͙̬̲̜̮̖̫͙͚͙̍̐͐ͅl̵̨̩̣̩̜̰͕̲̜̳̹̜͍̘̯͇͐̄͑́ͅo̴̱̯͍͗̈́̍̈́͗̃̈͂w̶̩͋̏̒͠l̸̝̺̲͌̇ỹ̷̛̲̝͈̬̣̮͓͎͔͎͙̟̉́̂̅̇̽̇̇́̾̚ ̷̧̹͓͉̪̘̮͓̞̬͎́͂w̶̡̘̪̬͇̠̮̩̗̦̮̟̜̝͓̣̅̽͆̉͗̿͌̓̐͋̂̌̔̉́̋ͅh̸̺̬̱̖̙̹͈͉̼͍͇̯͎̆̊̏̏̏̋͌̈́͑̒̈́̏͗ỉ̵̢̛̥͓̭͈̯̺͇͉̼̳͓̅̀͌̈́̐̒͋̈́͝t̷̨̛͈̦̬͉̟̬̟͙͎̪͉̦̾̐̒̽͘ȇ̵͔̱̝̫͎͐̍̑́̐͆̕̕͜͜͜ͅs̷̫̩̙̬̥̬̄̿͗ ̸̧͇̱̲͕͔͙̟̩͖̭̬̣̀̒̈́̌̑̉͜͝ͅo̷̢̧̦̗̫̻̓͐̐͗͊̔̈̄̓̂͊͐͌̚̚͠͝u̷̠̫̘͑̈́͂̀̍͗̄͠ͅt̶̤̄̏͑͊͛̓̃́̅̈́̈̓͐͑̕.̸̠̭̟̓̈́̐͂̇͝

They blink, looking around the room, their ears ring as they readjust to new surroundings.

They can see Dream and Tommy arguing, and they vaguely think that this happens often, but this seems a bit more serious than that. They can see Tubbo, Fundy, and Quackity in the background of the argument, along with George behind Dream ( _why does seeing George make them panic so much???_ ). 

Ranboo tries to focus on what everyone is saying, something about a room, George’s room? Burning? Is it burnt down, is the house okay?

“What about you, Ranboo, did you have any part of this?!” George asks, and Ranboo is unable to suppress the flinch from someone yelling at them.

“ _It’s fine, it’s just George, Niki is here, she won’t let anyone hurt you, they haven’t hurt you yet, you’re okay_ ” They think to themself, looking around, they feel pinned to their seat from the eyes on them and they have to force themself to continue breathing even if their breath stutters briefly.

“I- What?” They ask, looking around, they’re so confused, they can see Niki’s eyes widen as she realizes they blanked out again.

“I already told you, Ranboo had no part of this!” Tommy says, shifting the attention away from Ranboo and they sigh in relief at no longer having the feeling of eyes on them, “It was a one man crime!”

“I’m sure Ranboo can speak for himself,” Dream says from next to George, crossing his arms, “So, Ranboo, did you have any part of this?”

“Um,” Ranboo says, looking around, pointedly ignoring eye contact, cringing at the feeling of eyes returning, “I don’t know?”

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” George asks, and Ranboo fails to suppress a small flinch as George takes a step forward, Dream puts a hand on George’s shoulder to stop him from advancing further and scaring Ranboo more, the only one besides Niki noticing their distress.

“Um, I don’t, I-” They pause, taking a deep breath, “I have short term memory loss? I don’t really know what’s going on,” They explain quickly. 

They can see Niki’s surprise at them bringing their memory issues up so quickly, along with the others' mixes of suspicion or concern. Karl has a distinct look of understanding with his concern that makes Ranboo want to curl up further on themself but instead keeps themself firmly in place.

They zone out again as the conversation is pulled away from them by Tommy, along with Tubbo’s yells that that doesn’t help his case.

Eventually everyone is pulled away from the mock courtroom (where was this?) and Ranboo eventually finds their way to their room, closing the door and sliding down it, curling around themself.

_Why did they tell everyone that? They never told anyone about their memory issues, it made them easy to manipulate, atleast they weren’t stupid enough to mention their memory book, that always caused problems, people always realize how easy it is to control them with it._

_They can’t count on their fingers how many times their memory book had been messed with, taken and ruined, taken and changed, manipulated, even if it isn’t a part of them it hurts every time, like someone reached into their skull and scrambled their memory physically._

They curl up further on themself, rocking back and forth softly, the swaying is calming and they find themself whimpering into their legs, their tails wrapping around themself instinctively.

They take a few minutes like that, rocking softly as to not make any noise, before slowly easing themself out of the tight ball they shoved themself in and pulling their memory book out of their inventory.

They rub their thumb over the differing texture of the glimmering ‘DO NOT READ’ on the front, before flipping it open, letting the paper run past their fingers.

The blackout was from yesterday morning? To the courtroom, or maybe they just didn’t write anything down.

I was woken up by Tommy again, he’s loud but nice  
Tommy wants me to help him prank George, I agreed, it went wrong.  
George came home and got angry, Niki says that Tommy won’t get in too much trouble, I hope she’s right.

Oh, Oh _no_.

They erase the part where it says they helped Tommy almost frantically, before tossing their book onto their bed like it would burn them, their breathing picking up again.

Even if they don’t punish Tommy, Ranboo is new, they’ll think they’re a trouble-maker, they’ll know that Ranboo can’t be trusted! They already learnt about their memory loss, it only takes something to slip before they can take the book away like everyone else has, to change it and morph it and̶ t̸̟͗̓o̷̤̩̬͊̀̋͂ͅ- a̵̠̻̹͓͙̙͚̫̐̈́̃͜n̴̲͙̪̭͊̀̀̕͝d̶̨͇͚͛͛̊͐͂͆͗̄̂̎̑̿͝͝ ̶̧̧̩̟̣̱̖̞͓͙̬̫̣͍͍͇͎̃̏̽̐̏t̶͎̭̹͓̯͉̯̪̬̖̹̓̉̍͊͑̑̂̏̒̈́͠ͅo̸̡̟͈̱̹͍̻͓͈͖͕̞̬͙̯͑̿̃̍̽̇͝͝

“Tommy, you will be grounded for the next 3 weeks!!” Tubbo declares, and Ranboo blinks, looking around the mock courtroom confused.

They flip open their memory book which they find in their hands, finding the brief details.

It was the next day, that’s a few hours missed, and they had breakfast already, that’s good, and Tommy is getting his punishment, well, that’s bad, but grounding doesn’t sound too bad, unless it stands for something else, they’ve been places like that, were they say a thing that sounds soft and twist it into something nasty.

Tommy throws a fit like usual, one that makes Ranboo have to hold back laughter, and then everyone disperses. Tommy, surprisingly, follows Ranboo as they find their way back to the living room, having found out where in the house's layout the spare room they transformed into the mock court room was.

“Why are you following me?” They ask after a few seconds, not unkindly, more confused than anything.

“Well you’re also stuck in here so I decided to grace you with my presence.” Tommy says, voice low and pouty and it makes Ranboo smile softly from behind their mask.

“Oh of course,” Ranboo says, chuckling, “So you’re gonna keep me company while I’m on houserest?”

Tommy nods, “But you have to keep me company when you’re allowed out, fairs fair, bitch.”

Ranboo laughs, nodding, “Can’t have the great Tommyinnit getting bored,” they state, “You might just burn down the entire house instead.”

Tommy laughs, following Ranboo and sitting across from them as they settle into the chair they’ve claimed, collapsing onto one of the couches.

Ranboo opens their book, going to the friend page in practiced motions, they haven’t gone to it in a while, the simple ‘Niki?’ haunting them.

They erase the question mark and then add ‘Tommy’ under it, listening to Tommy ramble endlessly about how bullshit his punishment is.

Ranboo decides that they like Tommy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it may not be clear after this chapter I am gonna resay: none of the main people in this story are going to be villains or evil, the characters in this are described in threatening/anxiety inducing ways because it is from Ranboo's point of view and Ranboo is scared of them and distrusts them, so they aren't going to see their intentions as good (yet), a lot of this story will focus on Ranboo learning to trust them.
> 
> Also any of them still behaving in 'threatening' ways while Ranboo is panicking is because they don't notice unless said otherwise, so just take this through the lense of Ranboo catastrophizing others actions :>
> 
> This chapter mostly exists to establish how Ranboo views the others originally (to compare to later in the story) and also to establish how their anxiety problems/memory loss work, even though it might not fit completely with canon I based how they lose memories in more active ways (the blank parts) similar to how I do, while they also slowly lose memories in the background normally!
> 
> Also this is a mock of Tommy's exile, YES this does imply that Tommy and Wilbur got grounded and as a strike made pogtopia, that's canon now I don't make the rules.


	9. Flower Crowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo sneak out. It goes better than expected!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a tiny bit longer than the others so I hope you enjoy it!

Ranboo yawns, standing up from their bed and stretching, the action causing their back to pop in several parts.

They set down the book on their bedside table, it is some book on greek myths that Techno lended them. It was quite interesting ( _if difficult to read at points_ ), and helped pass the time that Ranboo didn’t want to spend listening to Tommy.

Ranboo jumps at a sudden knock against their window, swiveling around to look at it.

Another knock hits it and they walk over in quick steps, moving aside their curtains to find Tubbo there, balancing on something below their window and holding their hand up like they’re gonna knock on it again.

Tubbo looks at Ranboo and knocks softly on the window again.

They unhinge the latch and open it, glad that it opens inwards so they don’t knock Tubbo off.

“Tubbo what are you doing?!” Ranboo hisses, “You’re gonna fall!”

“Shh!” Tubbo says quickly, putting a finger up to their lips, “I’ll be fine, you’re gonna sneak out with us.”

“What?!” Ranboo asks, looking further out the window to see Tommy on the ground near Tubbo, “Aren’t we gonna get in trouble?”

“Not if we get away with it!” Tubbo says confidently, “You’re basically healed anyways, and Tommy’s punishment was wayyyy too long.”

Ranboo sighs, holding their head in their hand, cursing themself for having no backbone, “Fine,” They whine, “So, how do you expect me to get down.”

“Jump, you’ll be fine, it’s just the second floor.” Tubbo says, smiling.

“What?!” Ranboo says, but Tubbo already is gone from their window, jumping down to the ground floor with a small ‘oof’, clearly not knowing how to properly catch himself, but otherwise no worse for wear.

They sigh, carefully moving to sit on the windowsill, staring down at Tubbo and Tommy on the ground.

“Both of you suck,” They grumble, jumping down in a graceful motion, careful to land mostly on their leg with the ankle that wasn’t injured.

They open their mouth to question where they are even going but Tubbo puts their fingers to their lips again, a sign to be quiet, and instead he and Tommy start to lead Ranboo into the forest.

Ranboo decides not to question, not particularly wanting to be caught sneaking out, and follows them, the forest is less dense than Ranboo expects, and soon they are going into a small flowery clearing, with hives set up and bee’s meandering around.

“Oh,” Ranboo breathes softly, Tubbo runs off happily to the hives, followed by Tommy.

Ranboo follows at a slower pace, careful not to step on any flowers, watching as Tubbo happily cooes at his bees.

“Oh you haven’t met them yet!” Tubbo says, grabbing one of the bees softly and holding it out to Ranboo like it’s a cat and not a giant terrifying insect, “This is spinz! We lost him briefly but he came back!”

“Uh, hi?” Ranboo says softly, staring down at the bee, who buzzes back at him.

“He likes you!” Tubbo remarks happily, before letting go of the bee to float around at the flowers, “There are other ones, but the only other one I named is Spunz, when Spinz went missing Punz gave me Spunz, but then we found him again so we have both!” Tubbo explains, excitement lacing his tone.

“They’re very cool,” Ranboo replies, and Tubbo nods happily in response, beaming up at Ranboo.

“Tubbo!” Tommy calls, a bit away where the flowers are more dense, “Come on, we had a plan big man!”

“Oh, sorry!” Tubbo calls back, gesturing at Ranboo to follow him to the flower patch.

Tubbo and Tommy sit down in it, and Ranboo follows their lead, still careful not to damage any of them.

“Do you know how to make flower crowns?” Tubbo asks, picking a few flowers carefully, down at the stems.

Ranboo shakes their head ‘no’, “I think I did, at some point, but I forgot,”

“That’s okay, we can teach you!” Tubbo says, smiling brightly,

Ranboo smiles, fidgeting lightly with their sleeve, “I’d like that.”

Techno stomped up the stairs, he was missing some things, namely his axe, and assumed a certain little racoon had taken it.

“Tommy!” He yells, stomping across the little hallway, “Did you take my axe?!”

He narrows his eyes when he receives no quip in response, knocking hard on the door, he already knew Tommy was no were else in the house, meaning he had to be in his room, “Tommy?!”

No response again, Techno sighs, trying the door handle, locked.

He rears back in a quick movement, kicking the door down with ease, staring around at the empty room. 

The window is open, and the objects on the desk under it being knocked over makes it very clear what happened.  
**  
Escapeinnit  
Pog  
He be goin!  
Were did he go  
Racooninnit  
Get your things back!!  
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD  
**  
“Great help chat,” Techno sighs quietly, digging through a chest he doesn’t find any of his things, which means he’ll have to actually go after Tommy.

He goes over to Tubbo’s door, knocking, even in the pogtopia days Tommy couldn’t keep their little ‘revolution’ (basement gang) from Tubbo, and if he snuck out there is a 9/10 chance that Tubbo at least knew about it.

After no answer, he opens the door, looking around to find it empty, window open like how Tommy’s was.  
**  
Did he seriously sneak out when he’s allowed to leave?  
**  
Techno huffs quietly in laughter at the stupidity of it, if anything making it more suspicious, but moves on.  
**  
RANBOO  
Check ranboo  
Ranboo’s room  
**  
It couldn’t hurt to see, and chat is usually at least a little right.

He walks over, knocking calmer than the other two, it didn’t take someone as perceptive as him to notice the kid was jumpy as hell, and the scars on the side of his mouth that they only see at meal time, hidden behind the mask, doesn’t paint a pretty picture in his mind.

He definitely had not gotten a little bit of a soft spot for the kid after finding him injured and half-dead in the rain, that is definitely just chat making things up.

He gets no response, after knocking again with no response he opens the door slowly, glancing around.

Empty, window open, so all three then.

He walks down the stairs and out the door, circling to the side of the house the windows are on.

Tommy and Tubbo’s footprints are easy to track, Ranboo’s don’t appear often besides where he originally landed and a step here or there in the forest (on his bad leg).

Less than half way there Techno assumes where they went and just walks in that direction, going a much quicker route then how they went, and ends up at the bee clearing soon enough.

He spots the three teens immediately, Tubbo and Tommy stacking flower crowns on Ranboo’s head who seems to be struggling with making his own, having to unfold and refold it a few times.  
**  
Aw  
Awww  
aw  
E  
bonding!  
don’t ruin it  
get them while they’re not paying attention  
E  
They look so happy!  
Pog  
Bonding pog!  
**  
He stays quiet as he approaches, before carefully stepping on a branch to announce his arrival.

Ranboo swivels around first, fear clear on his features, but calms minutely when he sees it’s just Techno, before seeming to remember that he’s not supposed to be outside and becoming more panicked.

Tommy and Tubbo look up and have a similar response, Tommy being actually grounded and Tubbo from being caught with them.

“Uh, hi big man!” Tommy says, voice cracking, “What are you doing out here?!”

“Hullo,” Techno responds calmly, “I’m looking for my axe, actually.” He says, “Seen it anywhere, Tommy?”

Tommy smiles nervously, closed lipped and too wide, and Techno immediately is confirmed in that instant that Tommy definitely has it.

“Uh, nope!” Tommy says, “You probably just left it somewhere like a pussy, anyways you should probably be heading back!”

Techno raises a brow from behind his mask, “Is that so?”

Tommy nods almost hysterically.

“Well,” Techno says, “Guess I’ll just have to go tell everyone you’ve been sneaking out of your grounding then.”

“AAAAAA NO!” Tommy yells instantly, flinging himself off the grass and towards Techno, yanking the stuff out of his inventory, an axe, a stack of gapples (he’ll have to talk to Tommy about that later), a slow falling potion that almost shatters on the floor before Techno catches it, some armor, and a few more things.

“That it?” Techno asks, picking up his stolen shit from the floor.

“Yeah,” Tommy says, swallowing hard, “So you aren’t gonna tell them?”

“Never were, just wanted my stuff,” Techno responds, “Why are you out here anyways? Of all the places to run off to this is not the sneakiest, or the most interesting.”

“Ranboo never made flower crowns before, we’re teaching him,” Tubbo cuts in, holding up one of his own half finished crowns, “Anyways he’s still injured and we didn’t want him to get more hurt, I’m pretty sure Niki would maul us.”

Tommy laughs, sitting back down in his spot, “Yeah, and then we’d have another war, maybe she’d nuke me.”

Techno sees Ranboo mouth ‘war?’ to himself, looking increasingly confused.

“What about you Ranboo, why are you out here?” Techno asks, more trying to distract him than anything.

Ranboo looks over quickly, startled, but calms himself quickly.

“Peer pressure,” They explain dryly, still trying to fold the flowers onto the crown.

Techno huffs a small laugh, the quip so reminiscent of himself, and sees Ranboo get surprised by the action, probably didn’t expect ‘The Blade’ himself to laugh at his joke.

“Oh, Techno knows allllll about peer pressure,” Tubbo states, looking pointedly at Techno,

“Hey, you said you forgave me for that,” Techno responds calmly, picking a flower from next to him.

“You sold me out to Schlatt! I was grounded for like three weeks!” Tubbo responds, though there is more humor in his tone than anger.

“Hey, I didn’t sell you out, you were just a bad spy,” Techno states, shrugging, “I was just the one who gave you your sentence.”

“You betrayed us!” Tommy yells, throwing his hands up, “I even duelled you over that!”

“Stays in the pit, Tommy,” Techno replies, smirking.

Tommy huffs angrily, crossing his arms, muttering curses under his breath.

It is hours later when they return home, they take the path instead of the forest, the sun low in the sky and not wanting to risk mobs with Ranboo injured (even though he says it would be fine).

Techno had left an hour or so earlier, wanting to use his newly re-acquired axe to get some logs like he had planned earlier, leaving the three teenagers alone.

“Are we gonna be in trouble when we get back?” Ranboo asks worriedly, what happened with George’s room was a close call and they didn’t want to be in trouble so early while staying there. ( _They didn’t want to give them an excuse to kick them out earlier_ )

“It’ll be fine, we won’t even get caught!” Tommy states proudly.

“I doubt that,” Ranboo mutters, staring as the house slowly approaches in vision.

“It’ll be fine big man,” Tubbo assures, patting him on the back and Ranboo suppresses a flinch from the contact, “Anyways, the only one who’d get in any trouble is Tommy!”

“Then why’d you sneak me out in the first place?” Ranboo asks,

“For fun,” Tubbo answers with a shrug.

Ranboo groans, burying their face in one of their hands and grumbling something that sounds like ‘you two are idiots’, making both of them fall into laughter.

They walk up to the house, Phil immediately coming into view, standing on the porch with his arms crossed like an annoyed father.

“And where have you three been?” He asks as they approach.

Ranboo swallows nervously, fidgeting uncomfortably from behind Tubbo and Tommy, they can’t figure out how Phil is feeling, others here have acted angry before to be funny and they never can tell the difference, _is he actually angry and Ranboo is going to be kicked out and not see Niki again anymore? Or are they gonna hurt them as punishment? Is Tommy going to get more in trouble because of them? Or-_

“We were just showing Ranboo the flower field!” Tubbo says, “We showed him how to make flower crowns!”

Tubbo holds up one of the crowns Ranboo made happily, like a proud parent, and Phil softens visibly.

He sighs softly, “We’re going to have to start locking you in a cellar to keep you from leaving while grounded,” He states, though his tone holds no seriousness to it, “Come on in, it’s time for dinner.”

Ranboo blinks at the interaction, confused why they’re not at least getting yelled at, but follows them into the house. The lack of yelling or getting hit soothes them a little, maybe, just maybe, this place will be safe for them.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief Techno POV pog!!!
> 
> If you couldn't tell, bold is Techno's 'chat' and italics throughout the fic have usually been Ranboo's thought process!
> 
> If you like this think about following my tumblr @lucky_cr0w, I sometimes answer questions about the fic on there and also reblog a ton of dream smp stuff!


	10. Pets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo, Purpled, and Tubbo go get Ranboo's stuff from Hypixel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would've written a valentines day chapter but I forgot about it until this one was already written, sorry :<
> 
> This chapter gets a bit more angsty with things like panic attacks, very mild gore, and some other things, so if that would be triggering I'd suggest you skip it!

Ranboo sits in the grass outside of the house, braiding small pieces together while Tommy and Tubbo chase each other around them.

Tubbo drops next to them, panting, and lays there for a few minutes while Ranboo chuckles lightly at him.

“Hey Ranboo,” Tubbo asks after a bit, still winded, “Do you have anything were you used to live?”

“What do you mean?” Ranboo asks, looking over from were they were playing with pieces of grass.

“I mean, you used to be on Hypixel, right?” Tubbo asks, and Ranboo nods tentatively, “Did you have anything at like, the dorms?”

“I mean, I owned things, nothing that important I guess.” Ranboo says, “I also had my pets,” They trail off after that, before sitting up quickly, “OH GOD MY PETS!”

Tubbo looks up confused at the now panicking Ranboo.

“Oh god how could I forget about my pets? They must be so worried right now!” Ranboo says, quickly pushing themself up so they can start pacing, one of their claws finding it’s way into their hair and yanking on it, “What if someone broke in and hurt them? Or maybe the automatic feeding didn’t work and they’re starving? Or-”

“Hey,” Tubbo says, grabbing their shoulder softly and making them jump, when did Tubbo get behind them? “It’s okay, they’re probably fine, would you like us to go get them?”

Ranboo nods, swallowing a distressed warble. Tubbo grabs their hand softly and leads them inside, stomping up to Dream with determination.

“Dream, we need to go to Hypixel immediately!” He states, crossing his arms.

“Why?” Dream asks confusedly, “You’re not allowed to go fight in bedwars or something.”

“No, Ranboo has some pets there and we’re worried for them being alone so long!” Tubbo states, “We need to go get them.”

Dream sighs, “Fine, but you’re not going alone,” He states simply,

“Why not?” Tubbo asks, “We’re not going to battle or anything.”

“It’s Hypixel, Tubbo,” Dream states, “There are all sorts of dangerous people there, I don’t want you to get stolen for an illegal fighting ring or some shit.”

Ranboo fidgets nervously from behind Tubbo, desperately trying to shove down the part of their mind that screams that they are one of the ‘dangerous people’, that Tubbo shouldn’t be around them. Everyone already knows they’re from Hypixel, hell fucking Technoblade is here, that’s not what Dream is saying, they’re just reading into things.

( _It still hurts, though._ )

They end up with Purpled coming with them, all the adults are busy or far enough away that it’d be quite late by the time they arrive, and he knows Hypixel (Ranboo vaguely remembers him being on bedwards leaderboards.)

Dream lights the server portal and tells them to not take too long as they walk through.

The feeling of the portal is slightly nostalgic and they’re quite used to it, but they wait a second for Tubbo to shake off the dizziness that portals bring. Portals have never really bothered Ranboo much, but they understand that it can make others motion sick.

“Okay,” Tubbo says weakly, “I’m good,”

“Your pets are at the dormitories, right?” Purpled asks, looking up at Ranboo who nods nervously in response.

“Okay, let’s see if I remember how to get there,” Purpled says, mostly to himself as he starts walking off. Ranboo doesn’t try to tell him that they could probably just show them the way there and instead just follows quietly, keeping an eye on Tubbo to make sure he doesn’t fall off the floating islands into the void, it’s an instant respawn and doesn’t hurt but the idea it could glitch and Tubbo could be lost forever still worries them.

“How many pets do you have anyways?” Tubbo asks, walking besides the taller hybrid, still slightly dizzy from the portal.

“Three,” Ranboo states simply, “All are cats, Jjjjjjjjeffrey, Enderchest, and Enderpearl.”

“Damn,” Purpled says, “I was hoping you’d have a dog.”

“Technoblade already has like a hundred dogs,” Tubbo says in an amused tone,

“Calling them dogs is a bit misleading, they’re wolves that Techno managed to shove a collar on.”

“That’s what all dogs are Purpled!” Tubbo states, laughing,

The dorm buildings come into view, multiple of them meant for the hundreds of players, though those who visit more often get better ones of course, and champions get better ones.

“Follow me,” Ranboo hums, not expecting Purpled to know were exactly they live, and walks the way to their building, the path memorized subconsciously after having to go to it a few hundred times.

“Woah!” Tubbo says, staring around at the massive buildings, “Do you really live here.”

“Kinda,” Ranboo responds, “I just have a room, I don’t own the entire building.”

“Still cool as shit,” Tubbo says softly, following Ranboo into the building they stay in.

Ranboo pulls the keycard to his floor from his inventory, swiping it over the scanner quickly and walking on, Purpled and Tubbo following him on.

He presses the button to his floor, having to grab onto Tubbo’s shoulder to stop him from falling to the floor when the elevator starts moving.

There is a noteblock ding as the elevator hits their floor and they step off, keeping a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder as he sways slightly.

“Why is it so fast,” Tubbo groans, staggering slightly.

Ranboo chuckles, leading him softly, “So that people can get to their floors quicker, after fighting all day you get tired.”

Tubbo makes a noise of complaint and leans against Ranboo’s side for balance, Ranboo stops himself from tensing at the action.

He scans the keycard again at the door to his room, the door opening quickly with a click.

Jjjjjjjjeffrey and Enderpearl run up immediately, purring and circling around their legs while Enderchest simply watches from the back of a couch.

“They’re so cute!” Tubbo cooes, scooping up Jjjjjjjjeffrey “Which one is this?”

“That’s Jjjjjjjjeffrey with 8 j’s,” Ranboo says, scooping up the other cat at their feet, “This one is Enderpearl, they’re the youngest, and the one over there is Enderchest.”

“They’re sooooooooo cute!” Tubbo repeats, nuzzling his face against Jjjjjjjjeffrey’s happily, “I’m going to steal them.”

“Please do not,” Ranboo says softly, smiling as they watch Tubbo coo over the cat in his arms.

“This ones kinda cool,” Purpled states, and Ranboo looks over to Purpled scratching Enderchest under the chin,

Ranboo smiles slightly at the sight, though takes their chance to break away and look around the place.

It was never really a ‘home’, rooms got switched often for whatever reason and it didn’t particularly feel like home, too blank and empty, but it was were they lived for the past few years, so they let themself bask in the feeling of not particularly home, but a place to stay.

They walk into their room in quiet motions, there is a small layer of dust on places the cats hadn’t cleared it off by walking around. They walk over to the bookshelf, old memory books lining it, and puts them into their inventory with quick but careful motions.

They doubt that they’ll be allowed to stay on the Essempi, no matter how many times Niki promises that they can stay as long as they wish, but they do not know when they will next be returning, and the chance of losing these memories makes anxiety thrum deep in their chest.

Afterwards the anxiety dulls only slightly and they look through the chests, not finding anything they want to take too much, they decide to take some different outfits so they weren’t just stuck in borrowed clothing and their suit.

They walk out, finding Tubbo and Purpled on the couch, both holding their cat of choice.

“Got anything else you need to take?” Purpled asks, looking up from his spot on the couch,

“No, not really,” Ranboo responds, “I grabbed some clothing and some books, but I don’t really have much else.”

“Let’s go then!” Tubbo says, standing up with Jjjjjjjjeffrey in his arms.

Ranboo follows them quietly as they go back to the elevator, laughing when Tubbo gets dizzy from the elevator again.

“The cats are doing better at dealing with this than you,” Purpled states, watching as Tubbo sways vaguely,

“Shut up,” Tubbo grumbles but with no real malice, unable to keep up the angry act for long and falling into laughter as they leave the building.

The trip back goes pretty normally, nothing too interesting happening until-

“Ranboo is that you?!” Tubbo asks, staring up at one of the big screens displaying a skywars fight,

Ranboo looks over and feels their heart drop into their stomach, staring at the screen as a video of themself plays on it.

They watch themself as they dodge the blade of an enemy, raising their already bloodsoaked pickaxe and stabbing it into their enemies thigh, it weakens them and makes their attacks worse, more panicked, they quickly move back and then swipe at their enemies stomach when they are hit at again.

They fall to their knees, clutching the wound, and they watch themself as they swing the pickaxe down, crunching through their enemies skull.

Their breathing falls fast and they can hear Enderpearl mewling at them from where they are in their arms, sensing their anxiety,

“We need to go,” They say, voice strained and weak to their own ears,

“What, why?” Tubbo says, looking at him from were they were watching the screen

They swallow hard, and with how hard their hands are shaky they wonder if they’ll drop Enderpearl, “Please,” They say, half-begging

Tubbo looks at them with worry but nods, “Okay big man,” He says, voice soft in a way that makes Ranboo’s chest hur̸̨̢̲̻͚̠̗̝̥͉̹̹̠̪̪͎͔̠̹͕̙͎̞͂̀͜ͅț̴̡̢̧̛͇̺̬͈̻̞͍̺̟̆̾͊̑̊͊̇̌̓̋͒́̅̋͛̊̓̔̐͑̂͋͘͠ͅ,̴͕̪̰͇̣͝ ̷̨̡͕̩̮̹̰͊͗̍̄͛͒̓̚“̸̢̧͓̰͍̙͙̝̞̪̰̮͖̬̱̈́̈̈̔̄͘͝O̴̢̦̲̯̝̳̲͓̤͙̦̪̞̳͍̹̞̤̠͍̖̘͑̏̽͗́̄͋̈̅̌̿͋̌̉̃̒͘̚͜ͅķ̷̢̨̛͚̩͇̩͎͔̖͇̖̫̞͍̆͗̀̋̽̄̓̆͗̊̀̀͋̃̓̑̕̚̕̕͜ą̴̜͈͇̥̗̪̥̤̭̖̜̥̼̔̏̊̽̅̄͋͑̉͆͒̂̊̎͗ͅy̷͉̔̆̆̚͠͠,̴̡̢̧̨̰͈̜̭͕̙̠͇͕̦͙͔̜̫̤̗͕͛̄̓̃͋̒͗̈́̓̋͂̔̃͑̊̃̅̂̓̕͝ͅ”̴̧̨̛̛̙̪̬̥̟̝͎̬͚̘̫͓̲̦̱̈́̽̈́̇̆͐̓̍̚͘͜͝͠ͅ

Ranboo sits in their room, cats curled around them, and they blink around at their surroundings.

They blanked out, okay, that’s fine. They try to jog their memory.

They went to Hypixel to get their cats and some of their memory books and returned home, okay, probably just wasn’t anything worth remembering.

They pull out their most recent memory book, writing in an entry for today.  
**  
I picked up Jjjjjjjjeffrey, Enderpearl, and Enderchest**

**Tubbo and Purpled came with me.**

**Today was a good day :)  
******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo really be forgetting stressful things huh
> 
> If you like this fanfic please think about following me on my tumblr @lucky_cr0w
> 
> The next chapter is actually going to get into soulmate stuff, so if you came to this fic mainly for the soulmarks be ready for that!
> 
> Also if you have anyone you specifically wanna see some interactions with Ranboo for let me know! :>


	11. Deserving Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eret and Ranboo have a talk.
> 
> (It's about soulmarks)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I had this chapter on the back burner for a bit as I am ahead on the chapters currently, so I'm really excited for ya'll to see it!
> 
> Since I realized I never mentioned this, I generally update every two days (so since this is posted the 16'th, the next will be the 18'th), though I might miss it a few times if something happens, I am ahead enough that that probably won't be an issue!

“This is difficult,” Ranboo whines, carefully shearing pink wool off of one of the sheep, ending up ruining quite a few pieces by cutting them wrong.

Eret laughs at their struggle from where she is feeding the sheep, petting one of them on the head, “You’re getting the hang of it!”

Ranboo glares at her with no real malice, blowing some wool away from them from where it is drifting in the air, “Yeah, sure.”

Eret laughs again, Ranboo quickly following suit, both falling into easy laughter.

They continue working, Ranboo struggling to shear the sheep the way Eret taught them while Eret feeds them carefully,

“Hey Ranboo?” Eret asks, “How do you feel about doing something to pass the time?”

“Besides struggling to shear sheep? Yeah sure,”

Eret chuckles, “Well,” She begins, “You’ve been with us for a week or two and I don’t really know much about you,”

“It’s not like I talk about myself much,” Ranboo states, shoving some of the pink wool into a chest,

“We could play something like 20 questions,” Eret states, “I ask a question and you answer it, and then you ask a question and I answer it!”

Ranboo pauses, mulling over it for a second, “Can I deny answering a question if I want?”

“Sure,” Eret says, “If it makes you uncomfortable or something you can skip,”

Ranboo nods, “Okay, can I start?”

“Sure,”

“Why are we collecting all this wool?”

Eret laughs softly, not expecting that, “A personal project,” She says, “Something for everyone,”

Ranboo shrugs, “Your turn then,”

“Hm,” Eret says, not actually having a question on hand, “What’s your favorite food?”

“Potatoes probably,” Ranboo says with a shrug, “Easy to make and good, but I don’t really mind any foods,”

Eret nods, accepting the answer,

“Why do you wear your glasses all the time?” Ranboo asks, “Are you photosensitive or something?”

“Kinda,” Eret responds, “They also hide my eyes.”

Ranboo opens their mouth to question further but shuts it with a click when they realize that it’s not their turn anymore,

“Why do you wear the mask and gloves all the time?” Eret asks, and Ranboo runs their hand over the fabric of their mask on impulse,

“People are usually scared by the whole fangs thing,” Ranboo says, half-lying, that was the reason currently (besides the fact it also hid their lack of facial expressions), originally it was just to cover the scars on their cheeks and replace the heavy feeling of something else covering their mouth.

Ranboo shakes their head to clear the thoughts, they don’t have time to unpack all of that,

“And the gloves?” Eret asks, unaware of their internal turmoil.

“Helps me know where my hands end.” Ranboo states, “It’s like, depth perception but for my body.”

Eret raises a brow but doesn’t question further, 

“Uh, what’s your favorite color?” Ranboo asks, quickly running out of questions,

“Is rainbow an accepted answer?” Eret asks and gets a look from Ranboo, “Okay, pink probably then.”

Ranboo nods, stopping shearing at this point and just leaning against a chest with Eret leaning on the fence across from them,

“What got you onto Hypixel?” Eret asks, glancing at the crown balanced on Ranboo’s head,

Ranboo shrugs, “It was my only choice really, I am very clearly a hybrid and nowhere else was safe, I also had the fighting skills for it,”

Eret nods, waiting for her question,

Ranboo pauses like they are questioning if they should ask or not, before saying “What gender are you?”

Eret pauses, raising an eyebrow “Sure thats what you wanna use your question on?”

Ranboo nods nervously and Eret sighs, laughing a bit.

“Alright,” She says, “ I don’t really like labels, but I guess I’d technically be counted as genderfluid or pangender,” She states, “I use any pronouns because I feel like it doesn’t matter.”  
Ranboo nods, fiddling with the sleeves of their jacket but not showing any signs of disliking the answer they got,

“It’s okay if you skip this one, alright?” Eret asks before continuing, receiving a nervous nod from them, “So when we found you, we had a talk at dinner when Niki told us you were her brother, and she mentioned that her last conversation with you was an argument but refused to specify what it is about because she said it was your place to share, can I ask what it was about?”

Ranboo pauses, processing the words slowly. They remembered the argument no matter how much they wish they forgot, but the knowledge Niki told them, even if they didn’t specify what it was about, hurt,

“You can skip if you want,” Eret consoles, apparently seeing Ranboo’s rising panic, “I’m just interested,”

“It’s fine, I trust you,” Ranboo says, “Sorry I’m, I, I just,” They struggle to put the words together, “It, it was about soulmarks.”

“Soulmarks?” Eret prods, raising an eyebrow,

“Yeah, uh,” Ranboo swallows, fidgeting with their hands nervously, “We’re uh, soulmates, of course, I love her and everything,” They say, “But I, it-” They took a deep breath, “I didn’t want to mark her and I refused to, and she was fine with it for a while because you know, she respects my boundaries and everything, but when I left to go to Hypixel she wanted to, like, connect the bond, and I refused to.” They explain, all in a rush.

“Why didn’t you want to fulfill the bond?” Eret asks, tilting her head slightly,

“I don’t want to mark someone,” Ranboo says simply, “Someone shouldn’t get a mark of someone's soul from a person like me, it’s better for them to be a bit hurt now than to mark them and realize how terrible I am later. I don’t deserve to get one from someone else anyways.”

Eret frowns, staring at the teen before her speaking of themself like a monster, it makes her heart ache.

“Ranboo,” She says, voice soft, and catches how hard they flinch from it, “You don’t have to listen to me, and I get we’re not too close yet, but just think about what I say, okay?”

They nod, looking away from her and rubbing their wrist in a way that Eret expects will bruise it,

“I don’t know you that well yet, but you are one of the nicest people I’ve met, okay? You’re very kind and go along with Tubbo and Tommy’s stupid schemes and you have managed to get everyone to like you so you must be doing something right,” She states simply,

Ranboo mutters something but Eret doesn’t catch it, so she continues,

“You can’t deserve a person’s love, thinking like that is just going to drive you insane, either someone loves you or they don’t, and if they don’t that doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough and if they do that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it. You don’t earn love by being good enough.” She says, “You’re allowed to love people and be loved, even if you feel like you don’t deserve it.”

Ranboo turns to look at them and Eret winces at the look on their face, about to take it all back when they nod, wiping at their eyes before tears start burning down their face, “Thank you,” They say softly, “I’ll,,, I’ll think about it.”

Eret nods, smiling, “Okay, that’s all I ask,” She says, “Now, we should probably finish shearing these sheep.”

Ranboo groans, the moment broken, “Do we have to?” 

Eret laughs, “Come on, you promised you’d help, we might be done by the end of the day at this point!”

Eret sighs, resting her head back against the wall, the memory of the conversation playing in her mind.

Dealing with traumatized teens was, tragically, a skill most of them had at this point, Tommy, Tubbo, Purpled, hell even Fundy, it didn’t make it any easier.

Of course, she knew part of what happened to him, being a prophet came from perks (though she dislikes the lack of privacy it causes others), she didn’t even mean to look, just an accident of zoning out too much while watching him on one of his first days asleep,

She doesn’t really like what she saw,

She should probably tell the others before they started prying and caused Ranboo to panic all over again, most of them not quite as good at talking down a kid until they were already halfway into a panic attack, but getting a time were everyone would be there besides Ranboo would be difficult, and explaining it multiple times might get messy.

She sighs, pushing her hair out of her face as she walks over to her bathroom, taking off her glasses and setting them down, turning on the sink and splashing her face with cold water.

She dries her face off and looks up into the mirror, plain white eyes staring back at her, they don’t bother her much, she mostly wears the glasses so other people don’t freak out over them.

She looks over at her shades, a memory of Ranboo mentioning disliking eye contact comes to her, she doesn’t mind it as much, but it is certainly easier to avoid when people can’t see where you’re looking (Not that people ever know where she’s looking anyways).

An idea comes to her mind and she grins, putting the glasses back on and walking into her room, looking around for glass.

Ranboo walks into their room, humming softly to themself, they had been allowed to go mining for the first time, though they still think being handed full enchanted netherite armor for it was a bit of a stretch, they were grateful.

They pause when they see a piece of pink wool sitting on their dresser with two pairs of glasses next to it, they walk over, looking over the objects.

They pick up a note sitting next to the glasses, reading it curiously.

**I heard you don’t like eye contact, these might help! -Eret**

Ranboo smiles, picking up one of the pairs of glasses and examining them.

They are circular compared to Eret’s normal more squarish ones, with black lenses that would hide their eyes well.

The other pair is the same shape, but instead of the black lenses one is red and the other green, matching their eyes.

They pick up the wool next, confused, and find a tag attached to it with ‘You matter <3 - Eret’

“Aww,” They say softly, putting the wool in their inventory to be stored in an enderchest later.

They definitely owe Eret a gift later, maybe something to fit with the whole royal outfit they have going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this more comforting chapter since the next one is really angsty! Also, I am thinking of adding more of the mini pov's at the end of chapters just so you can also see how others are viewing Ranboo,
> 
> If you liked this chapter think about following my Tumblr @lucky_cr0w, I answer questions about the fic on there along with in the comments of these chapters and once I finally get un-artblocked I will post drawings of the characters there aswell!


	12. Stolen Comforts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy steals Ranboo's memory book, unknowing of how important it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR TW IN THIS CHAPTER FOR - Panic attacks/descriptions of panic attacks, accidental self harm, mentions of wanting to die, descriptions of feeling like dying, and other generally triggering topics.

Ranboo hums softly, walking up to their room to deposit some of the wood they spent time chopping,

It isn’t really a task they need to do, but the motions keep them busy and having extra materials on hand never hurt them, they also still owe Eret that gift for the glasses.

They move to pull their memory book out and write down what they did, they scan over their inventory and find no book.

They pause, anxiety racing up their spine as they check over their inventory again,

There's nothing there, it’s not there,

They open up chest after chest, scanning through the items with keen eyes as fear slowly grows,

Oh no oh no no no no,

“Where is it?” They whisper to themself, digging through another chest and finding nothing,

“It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s probably just in a chest somewhere!” They reassure themself, hands shaking as they walk out of their room, moving quickly so they don’t get stopped by someone,

They check Eret’s sheep farm, remembering that they deposited their entire inventory in a chest, but find only pink wool and shears,

They check the xp farm, where they last mined, even around where they were cutting down trees and find nothing besides an empty book that is most certainly not their memory book, the leather completely different.

“Where is it where is it where is it where is it,” They whisper on repeat to themself, digging through the chests in their room,

“It’s gotta be in here, it’s gotta be in here,” They say, looking through the chests, “Why can’t you remember?”

“This isn’t good, this isn’t good,” They repeat, leaving their room again and walking outside, checking any chest or barrel they see,

“This isn’t good, it has to be somewhere,” They say to themself, wiping their palms on their pants to get off the sweat,

“It’s gotta be close, it has to be somewhere nearby,” They say, “It can’t not be, you haven’t gone far away from here yet,”

“There's no way I just put it in some chest,” They say, but still dig through another one they see, finding nothing, “I’m not, I’m not that irresponsible,” They say, and a nasty voice in their head hisses ‘ _liar_ ’

“No one found it, no one probably found it, you’re fine,” They say to themself, pulling off their gloves in a hasty motion, the texture starting to bother them and probably why their hands are so sweaty, definitely, “No one found it,”

“Because if someone found it, then you’re screwed!” They say to themself, “But no one’s going to see it, so we’re fine!”

“Why did I put it away, I never do that,” They say, walking quickly back to the house, “It’s fine though, it’s fine, you’ll find it!” They reassure themself, though their voice is squeaky and annoying to their ears, 

“This is the one thing you couldn’t lose,” They remind themself, “This is the one thing you couldn’t lose,” They repeat, 

“What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do if I lost it? What if i'm- What am I gonna do? I don’t know!” They say, laughing a bit hysterically at the end, “I-It’s fine I can remember, I can rewrite it, I can rewrite what I remember,”

“Why did you forget? Why, why did you take it out of your inventory, you never do that, it makes no sense, it makes no sense at all. But it’s fine,” They laugh again, “It’s FINE, I’m doing great, I’m doing absolutely great,”

“We’re just gonna find it, no one read it, cause if someone did read it, then you’re screwed!” They tell themself, “Because you have no moral backbone, you have absolutely no moral backbone any of the time, and you’re a liar, if they find it they’ll never trust you again!”

“It’s probably here, it’s probably in one of these!” They state, stopping by the chests they were around earlier, pulling them open, “It’s probably, its, it's probably,” They trail off, staring at the chests with no book to be found,

“Oh, oh no,” They say, reopening the chests and finding nothing, “It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone,”

“Where else could it be? Why don’t you have it WHY DON’T YOU HAVE IT?” They ask themself, hands coming up to grip and pull on their hair, the sting of it is grounding,

They sigh shakily, “Why don’t you have your memory book? That is the one thing that you need. It's the ONE THING that shows just how terrible you are!” They yell at themself, they can feel the drip of blood as one of their claws digs into the skin of their head, probably staining their hair since it is on the white side,

“I have it, I have it, I know I have it, I probably just didn’t check, I’ll go back home and it’ll be in a chest because I’m an idiot and didn’t see it and everything will be fine!” They reassure themself, walking home in quick steps, every few they blank out and appear a few steps ahead, but just chalk it up as their panic making them less aware,

“Someone took it,” They whisper to themself, but quickly backtrack, “No, there's no way someone took that! That’s foolish, that’s foolish to think! They don’t even know what it is, you’re supposed to trust them you can’t think they stole it, this is the reason they can’t find it in the first place because you don’t trust them! You should’ve told them everything the first day you were here but you were scared of their reaction!”

“How could you think that, no one took it! Someone probably- No! No one took it,”

“We’re doing fine, we’re doing great, we’re gonna find it and we’re gonna make it so no one else ever finds it!”

“Cause it shows,” They laugh sadly, their steps slowing, their legs feel like jelly under them, “Cause it shows just how terrible you are,”

They continue walking, forcing their pace back up even though it hurts and they’re left stumbling every few steps, “Where could it have gone off to, you checked all your chests there's no way you couldn’t have found it,”

“It’s fine, you’ll find it you’ll find it you’ll find it you’ll be fineyoullbefineyoullbefineyoullbefine,”

“Okay, you don’t know where the book is, that’s okay! Someone didn’t find it, someone didn’t see where it is, they don’t even know what it is, then where did it go?”

“Cause it, cause it shows that you lied to them, multiple times! It shows that you don’t trust them, that you’re not planning on staying, it shows them just how terrible you are to Niki! It shows how you really feel about them it, it shows,” They trail off, harshly scrubbing tears from their eyes, “But it’s fine, it’s fine!”

“It’s fine, cause you’ll find it and then you just have to make sure to never lose it again once you find it, which you will, cause you’ll find it!”

“Cause if you don’t find it then they’ll know, they’ll know everything, and they’ll use it against you, they could change it! And that's not something we want to happen, okay? Okay, alright,”

“It’s okay, we just have to find it,” They say, and then laugh brokenly, “But where?”

“No, we can’t think like that, we just have to find it,”

“Okay, what did it have in it, what did it have?”

“It had, it had my friends! It had your morals it had,,, It had what you believe in, it had what you did oh it _definitely_ has what you did!”

“It-It will be okay,” They tell themself, “No it won’t because they’ll know what you did. They'll know you’re a liar and a traitor and you can’t even trust yourself! It shows that you lied to everyone immediately!”

“Why did you do that, why did you lie immediately to the only people that have ever kept you safe, the only people who’ve ever given you a home!” They yell to themself, a hand yanking on their hair again and drawing more blood from the claw cuts as a scorching hot tear goes down one of their cheeks, they don’t move to stop it,

They walk into the house quickly, thanking End and Aether that there is no one currently around as they run up to their room, “Okay, just gotta check every slot, it will be here, it will be here,”

“It will, it will be, it will, it will be here,” They say, their voice quavering, finding nothing, “It will,” They drop to their knees, no longer able to stop any tears as they start crying, hiccuping sobs interlaced with distressed enderman warbles that they can’t swallow down, “where did, where did you keep it?” They ask themself, face in their hands, causing the tears to burn their ungloved palms as well,

One of their claws finds their wrist, scratching through the bandages they kept there with ease, digging in deep to the pale skin, scratching through it, the pain is grounding and satisfying, and they deserve it,

“You’re a dirty liar, Ranboo” Their mind hisses, “You lied to the only people who’ve ever given you a home, you don’t trust them, you can’t trust them! They’ll throw you out the moment they read the book! You even got Eret to think that you aren’t terrible!”

They sob, ripping off their mask and glasses with their free hand and throwing them onto the floor, continuing to scratch deep slashes into their arm, their skin is too tight, it doesn’t fit properly, it needs to come off, they wish they could rip the veins out of their arms and feel the endless void of respawn, the calming numbness, 

They’re dying, they’re dying they’re dying they can’t breathe and everyone will hate them, why did they think this would go well they should’ve left as soon as they were healed and everyonehatesthemwhywouldthisgowelltheyresoterribleofcoursetheyscrewedthisupthisisjustlikebeforeeveryonesgoingtohurtthemandthen-

“Ranboo?” They hear a voice say and flinch, an enderman screech of terror coming out of their mouth before they can stop it, they dissolve back into sobs after.

They babble out small “i’msorryimsorryimsorry”ies probably barely understandable between their enderman warbles and sobs,

“Hey, it’s okay big man,” They say, kneeling in front of Ranboo and they can vaguely see through their tears dark hair and tanned skin, “It’s okay,”

“It’s NOT!” They sob out, “I lost it I lostitandIcantfinditand-” They sob harder, the tears scorch their cheeks and just make them cry harder from blinding, white-out pain, 

“Shit,” They hear them say and whimper, curling in further on themself, awaiting to be hit for not just fucking calming down and being stupid and panicking, “You’re bleeding, I’m gonna- I’ll go get someone, okay? I’ll be right back, I promise Ranboo,”

They don’t respond, just sobbing into their legs, curled up on the floor.

One of their cats nudges against their hand covering their face, meowing softly, they let out a distressed warble at the action,

“Look, your cats care about you this much and you can’t even do anything but sit there and cry” Their mind crows, “You don’t deserve them,”

Ranboo agrees, though can’t do much about it, at this point they struggle to twitch their fingers and their legs have long since gone numb, so it's not like they can walk out,

They hear footsteps return and a little “Oh Ranboo,,,,” They’d cry harder if they could, but they’re sobbing hard enough it’s making them gag,

Someone knees down next to them carefully, “Can you hear me Ranboo?” They ask,

Ranboo nods shakily, but is unable to lift their head to look at who it is or discern the voice,

“Can I touch you?” They ask, voice so, so kind and it makes Ranboo wanna cry more,

They nod quickly, the action makes them dizzy but a hand slowly smoothes through their slightly bloodsoaked hair, they tremble at the action, torn between leaning into the comfort and wanting to run from it,

“It’s okay Ranboo,” They soothe softly, “I need you to try to breathe, okay?”

“I cantI-canticnaticant” They choke out, wheezing, their breath feels like it is being compressed and no matter how hard they try they can’t take in a breath,

“I need you to try, okay?” They say, “Just try,”

Ranboo does, they swear they TRY- but the breath just doesn't enter and they are left coughing and choking,

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” They soothe, “I’m so proud of you for trying, can you try again please,”

“No, can’t,,,” They wheeze out, weaker this time, running out of breath to talk with,

“You can, I promise, I know it’s hard but you can,” They say, “Just follow my breathing, okay?”

They breath in exaggerated motions that Ranboo can hear, letting them follow, they try, managing to choke down a breath but coughing it out almost immediately,

“There, see, you’re doing so good already!” They say, “Just try again, it will be okay, I’m so proud of you,”

Ranboo follows their motions again, breathing in deeply and holding for a few seconds (not the whole 4, but pretty good), wheezing it back out again with a cough,

“Good, let’s try again,” They say, breathing again, letting Ranboo follow,

They repeat that a good few more times, Ranboo slowly getting their breathing under control, 

“Okay,” The person says, “Feeling better?”

Ranboo nods slightly, untucking their face from their arms, the open air stings against the burns on their cheeks.

They look up at whoever was helping them, seeing Eret kneeling in front of them, Philza to their side with a hand in their hair (the blood on it is sticky now and feels uncomfortable, it will be a pain to get out), Quackity and Bad stand near the doorway, Bad holding some healing potions and medical supplies, awkwardly waiting for Ranboo to calm down, and Quackity looking concerned,

Ranboo guesses that Quackity is the one that found them and winces, they aren’t really particularly,,,, close with him, honestly they’re pretty sure Quackity dislikes them,

“Would you be okay with Bad healing you?” Eret asks, voice soft, and Ranboo nods, sitting up even though their skin and bones ache with the action, they kinda just want to dissolve into the floor at this moment, but they’ve had worse.

Bad walks over, kneeling down next to them, checking over the burns on their face and palms, then the cut in their hair from their claws and the scratches on their wrist,

Bad winces when he sees the slashes, they gladly didn’t hit a vein but it is definitely bleeding pretty good, dripping down their arm, “We’re gonna need to stitch this before we use a regen so it will heal properly,” He states, staring at the wound,

“Sorry,” Ranboo mutters, annoyed at themself more for getting caught than actually doing it, they’ve done worse while panicking, accidently hit veins and had to respawn a few times, that was never fun,

“It’s fine,” Bad reassures quickly, his voice has a nervous twinge behind it that makes Ranboo wince internally, they shouldn’t be worrying everyone like this, “You didn’t hit anything important, the stitches will just help the flesh heal together properly,”

Ranboo nods, they could tell that themself, a year or two (or three? four?) on Hypixel made them aware of what wounds were fatal or not and this one was an annoyance at best on that ranking scale.

They move to stand up but are instantly brought back down on the floor before they can even stand, their legs next to completely numb,

“Woah there mate,” Phil saids, reaching out slightly but not really having to catch them, since they barely went a few inches off the ground, “You should probably stay sitting for a minute,”

“I’m fine,” They say softly, waiting for the dizzy spell to stop, “Really, I’ve fought in worse condition than this,”

They assume that was the wrong thing to say from Eret’s tight lipped frown and Bad’s clear concern, though they can’t see the other two’s faces, they guess they’re in similar states,

They cringe slightly and curl in on themself more, they don’t like when people have those looks, either they get hurt or they make someone feel bad, and they don’t like either of those things.

Bad softly wraps up their arm while waiting for them to be able to stand and walk downstairs, not wanting them to bleed more onto the floor.

“Do you know why you panicked?” Eret asks, sitting on the floor next to them still, “You don’t have to tell, of course, but we can help if you tell us,” Bad nods in agreement with her,

Ranboo forces themself to continue breathing normally even though remembering makes anxiety come back full force, “I lo-I, I,” They stutter, taking in a deep breath, “I lost my memory book? I looked over and I can’t find it,”

“Is that the book you carry everywhere?” Eret asks, “Do Not Read?”

Ranboo nods, “I write down all my memories in it, so I don’t forget,” They say, and immediately curse themself for spilling as soon as they get slightly pressed on the matter,

Eret hums softly, “I think I know where it is,” She says, standing up, “I’ll be right back,” She says, walking out the door past Quackity,

Eret walks down the stairs in quick steps, going down the hallway and turning into the living room,

Tommy and Tubbo are playing some card game on the floor, laughing and yelling at each other, and Eret softens but forces herself to stay serious, Tommy did something bad and seriously hurt Ranboo,

“Tommy,” She says, voice deadly serious, Tommy swivels over with wide eyes, clearly sensing that he was in trouble,

“Yesssss?” He asks, a worried smile on his face,

“Ranboo’s book, now,” Eret demands, holding out her hand for Tommy to set the book in,

“Haha, I don’t know what you're talking about!” Tommy says, voice squeaking and revealing the lie easily,

“Now,” Eret demands again, and Tommy sets the book in Eret’s hand with a sigh,

“Ruined the prank,” Tommy grumbles, and Eret glares from behind her shades,

“You gave them a panic attack, Tommy,” Eret states, and she sees Tommy’s eyes widen with panic, she knows that Tommy didn’t mean for that to happen, he steals stuff all the time for fun, it was an accident, Ranboo still got hurt from it, “I expect you to apologize to him at some point,”

“Is he okay?” Tommy asks, worry clear in his voice and Eret softens from it,

“Yeah,” She says, “He’ll be fine, you still should apologize, you really shook him up,”

Tommy nods, relaxing visibly when he hears that Ranboo is okay,

Eret walks back up the stairs to Ranboo’s room, holding the book carefully,

Ranboo watches as Eret comes back into the room, their memory book in hand,

They are halfway between ecstatic and terrified, they want their book back so bad, having it out of their hands so long makes their brain feel visibly shattered and full of static and cotton, but they also are half expecting Eret to start reading it, to tell them just how terrible Ranboo is and for them to force them to leave.

Instead, Eret walks over with smooth, expectable motions and holds it out to Ranboo, a small smile on her face,

Ranboo takes it slowly, hands still shaking a bit, expecting her to yank it away at the last moment but she never does, waiting for them to take it fully before drawing back,

They clutch the book to their chest, swallowing down a happy ‘vrrrrrr’ that threatens to come out their throat at the object,

“Thank you,” They choke out instead, and Eret nods,

“Tommy had it, he took it as a joke, he didn’t know you’d panic over it, I promise it won’t happen again,” Eret explains, taking her spot next to them,

Ranboo frowns, running their thumb on the slightly worn leather of their book, the texture comforting.

“He’s gonna apologize on his own later,” Eret specifies, “I thought you’d wanna know were it was, he didn’t read any of it,”

Ranboo nods, “Thank you,” They say softly, “Sorry for panicking so much, it was dumb, I should’ve just asked were it was,”

“Hey, none of that,” Phil says, voice kind but reprimanding, “You had a panic attack, don’t apologize for that, it’s not your fault,”

Ranboo nods again, they feel a bit like they’re gonna cry but they decide they don’t want any more burns,

“How about while Bad patches you up I’ll make you some hot chocolate and then you can sit in that chair in the living room you like so much,” Phil suggests, slightly wrapping a wing around Ranboo, light enough that they could shrug it off, but they make no move to,

“Hey, it’s a good chair,” Ranboo defends, chuckling weakly, “Can I bring one of my cats?”

“You can bring all three if you want,” Eret states, “I’ll carry them for you,”

“Thanks,” Ranboo says, forcing themself to stand up, the dizziness mostly gone even though their legs still feel pretty numb, following Bad out the room and down into the medical room.

They stay still as they receive the stitches, it doesn’t hurt too much even though Bad apologizes every three seconds for it, after that they are handed a regeneration potion, the flavor of it is sickly sweet to the point that they next to gag but they manage to force it down.

Bad also puts small bandages under their eyes until the burns there heal, just so they don’t hurt as much.

They go and sit in the living room after, Tommy immediately apologizes to them almost a hundred times, next to grovelling at their feet. They promise to forgive him if he helps Eret bring down Jjjjjjjjeffrey, Enderpearl and Enderchest and he immediately sprints off to his mission, leaving Ranboo chuckling.

Sitting in their chair, with still slightly trembling hands holding a cup of hot chocolate with their cats curled around them, hearing Tubbo and Tommy argue over if the other is cheating at Uno, Ranboo thinks that this is probably the best after-panic attack they’ve ever had.

They try to relax into it instead of worrying about it’s longevity.

Better to cherish it while it lasts.

(Bonus Bad POV!)

When Quackity comes downstairs panicking, saying that Ranboo is having a panic attack and bleeding, Bad doesn’t really think, just grabs a medkit and a few regen potions and follows Eret and Phil upstairs.

Bad has seen panic attacks before, helped others with them, and he can tell this one is not a good one by any means when he sees Ranboo, gagging with sobs on the floor, wrist dripping blood and hair stained with it.

He doesn’t know Ranboo well, though he doesn’t particularly dislike him, he just never really had a conversation with him, so instead he hovers strangely at the door until Ranboo seems to calm down and helps after that, checking the injuries and bandaging them until Ranboo can stand to walk down to the sterile medical room for stitches.

Hearing that Ranboo has fought in such a state makes his concern grow exponentially, the vision of Ranboo in battle on Hypixel, swaying and dazed, branding in his brain uncomfortably.

Watching Ranboo clutch the book to his chest and rock back and forth softly, making soft almost purring noises that he keeps noticeably silencing makes pity, no, not pity, compassion, throb in Bad’s chest.

He’s always had a bit of a soft spot for kids, well, for everything, really, but kids especially, and it hurts to see Ranboo this panicked.

It reminds him of the time that Dream jokingly stole Tommy’s discs, causing Tommy to have an entire meltdown that ended with him sobbing on the floor, begging for them back.

(he also remembers that he smacked Dream upside the head for it so hard that his hand hurt after, though Dream agrees he deserved it for keeping the joke going so long even though he realized that Tommy was getting distressed, anyways a few days after Tommy got his revenge with a bright red soulmark right smack dab on the middle of Dream’s face, so it turned out okay.)

Ranboo is shockingly still and uncomplaining as Bad does the stitches, almost worryingly so, he flinches away from almost all touch and yet the pain seems to not bother him, and it worries Bad to his core, though it is not his place to question it.

(if when Skeppy comes home Bad next to drags him into their room to stuff his face into his chest and sob, telling him what happened as Skeppy softly comforts him, that’s his business, and he can deal with it if it means that Ranboo is okay. He deserves to be okay, to be protected and supported, and Bad is willing to give him that, if he'll take it.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be a LOT less angsty than this one, but I hope you enjoyed it even though it was very angsty!
> 
> I am currently deciding between keeping this fic very much just focused on trauma healing and everyone bonding OR switching it over to having a (more background) actual plot, so if you have an opinion on that please let me know!


	13. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam gets Ranboo to help him with redstone  
> Fundy and Ranboo have a little competition.  
> Ranboo and Tommy find something to bond over  
> Wilbur talks to Ranboo about their memory issues  
> Schlatt offers Ranboo a drink  
> Ranboo looks over their soulmarks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me multiple days to write, I am not even that happy with it but haha anyways-

Ranboo is eating breakfast one morning, listening to the vague chatter from those around them. They usually don’t join the conversations unless pulled into one, but just listening in (even if they can’t discern many words over whatever Tommy’s screaming to Tubbo about), is comforting.

Sam gets up first to put his plate away, though before he leaves to go work on whatever project he is currently doing he pauses at the doorway to the hall, thinking.

After a moment he turns back, looking at them, “Hey Ranboo, how good are you at redstone?”

“Um okay I guess? I’m not good at making my own stuff but I can follow instructions?” Ranboo answers, confused at the question,

“Great, meet me outside when you're done eating, wear clothes that you’re fine with getting dirty,” Sam says, turning on his heel and walking out the front door.

“What?” Ranboo squeaks, but Sam is already gone and unable to answer,

Niki laughs from next to them, “Looks like Sam has chosen to mentor another child,” She says softly and Ranboo bristles slightly at being called a child,

“What?” They whisper again to themself, confused about what is going on,

They finish up eating and put their plate away, going up to their room and following Sam’s instruction to put on clothing that they are fine with getting dirty,

It is harder than expected to find something, though they manage, an old dress shirt, a black sweater vest to fight off some of the slight chill in the air outside. They put on their jacket after some thought, it has survived almost everything with very little need for repair, Niki said she basically only needed to dry it when they were found even though the rest of their clothing was next to completely ruined, so they could probably wash some redstone off (or whatever else Sam planned for them.)

They also put on their gloves, mask, and glasses, deciding they’d rather have to clean them later than go without them.

They put their armor on over the clothing, the weight is familiar and comfortable, grounding in a way, and they don’t feel like spinning the roulette wheel of guessing if it will rain today and risk being in agonizing pain if they get it wrong.

They walk out the door, finding Sam leaning against the wall waiting for them, he has his gas mask on and Ranboo finds it a bit strange to see him with it, even though they know he usually wears it. They only really see Sam during meals usually, when he doesn’t really have a say in the matter over wearing it or not. They wonder if Sam feels the same about seeing them with their mask and glasses.

“Took you a bit,” He states, pushing himself off the wall, though he raises a brow seeing what Ranboo is wearing, “I thought I told you to wear stuff you’d be okay with ruining?” He says, but his tone is more teasing than actually concerned,

“This is the least fancy stuff I own,” Ranboo admits, wringing their hands, “It’s all old stuff so it’s okay if it gets ruined,”

Sam smiles at them, “It’s fine, you’ll probably not get them too dirty,” He states simply, “Follow me, I’ll show you what we’re doing,”

They travel through the nether to the guardian farm, Sam gets worried when he realizes they’ll have to go through water and doesn’t seem particularly assured when Ranboo tells him that water only hurts them over time with armor on, however, they didn’t really have any other choice to get to the guardian farm that wouldn’t take a while.

“Why are we here?” Ranboo asks, staring at the, apparently not working, guardian farm,

“Tommy managed to break it while XP grinding, I think he managed to get a creeper in here somehow, I torched the spawner so I could fix the redstone,” Sam explains,

“And why did you need my help for this?” Ranboo asks, regretting it almost immediately, noticing how mean it sounds, but Sam doesn’t seem to notice,

“Didn’t,” Sam says simply, “But unless you’re working on a secret project or something with all the mining you’re doing, I think you don’t have much better to do,”

Ranboo nods with a small hum, rolling up their sleeves, they catch sight of the bandages and gauze on their still healing wrist and wince slightly but move past it, “What do you need me to do?”

Sam hands over some redstone, a few repeaters, and some other things, “Do you have a ear com?”

Ranboo nods in confirmation, being reminded of it makes them hyper aware of the implant behind their ear and makes it twitch uncomfortably,

“Okay, I’m gonna call you and I’ll tell you where to place things and how many ticks while checking if it works,” Sam explains, “That work?”

Ranboo nods, climbing through the small hole Sam made in the wall to the redstone, getting to the task, it strangely relaxing to make the practiced motions of setting down redstone and clicking repeaters with Sam’s instructional lull in the background.

They’re not even that mad when they walk home covered up to their elbows in redstone dust, instead just laughing and joking with Sam, who is in a similar state.

Sam is nice, even though Ranboo finds him a bit intimidating (they’re NOT used to someone being taller than them, no one has been since they were a child), he speaks in a calm but pleasant voice and doesn’t mind repeating how to do things when Ranboo forgets.

Ranboo likes Sam. 

Fundy screeches, jumping back to avoid a creeper explosion that he oh so heroically stopped from hitting Ranboo, “You ruin everything,” He says weakly, brushing gunpowder off himself,

“I didn’t ruin anything, I didn’t do anything,” Ranboo says, looking up from their communicator to see the creeper hole, laughing in realization “Oh, I don’t think that was me,”

Fundy bristles, stomping off down the path and hearing Ranboo chuckle as they follow in long strides, easily keeping up with his half-sprinting pace.

“Okay, so how are we doing this?” Ranboo asks, walking with Fundy towards the mining site,

“I was thinking it’d be that every ore just has one point, and we just count whoever has more and that person gets a point,” Fundy explains, “So like let’s say I have more redstone, I get a point, you have more diamond, you get a point, it’s 1 to 1.”

“Ah, okay, so what do we get if we win?”

“Whoever wins geeetssssss,” Fundy draws out the noise, thinking, “To rob eachothers room?”

Ranboo feels a cold pang of anxiety at the idea, remembering what happened a few days ago with their memory book, “No, no, I was thinking, whoever wins gets to make a message on the others communicator,”

“Oh that's dangerous,” Fundy states, smirking evilly, 

“That’s a lot of damage though, thats a lot of damage though,” Ranboo says, repeating the phrase, it feels good on their tongue and they bite down on it softly to stop themself from repeating it,

“That’s a lot of damage,” Fundy repeats back,

“That’s a lot of damage,” Ranboo repeats again, smiling behind their mask, the words just feel good on their tongue,

Fundy tilts his head, thinking it over, “You know what? Let’s do it,” He states as they both walk down the stairs into the mine,

They walk together to the far wall, “We’re only gonna be like one block apart so there’s gonna be ores in the middle that we’re gonna fight over.” Ranboo says, stepping into their spot,

“Ooooh I like that, I LIKE THAT, I like that!” Fundy says, stepping into his own spot, “How long are we doing it?”

“Uh, how about 4 hours? So that we can actually get a decent amount,”

Fundy nods in agreement, clicking on the communicator behind their ear so they could hear each other through the stone walls, “Count us down,”

“Three, two, one, GO!”

Fundy quickly takes the lead, going ahead of Ranboo while they struggle to catch up,

“Dude I’m getting nothing,” Fundy remarks through the communicator,

“We’ve been mining for like 3 seconds Fundy!” Ranboo replies between their soft mutters of ‘gotta catch up’

Fundy makes an excited noise and Ranboo guesses he found something as they mine out some gold ore from the wall.

“Question, can I use X-ray and question, can I stray from my path?” Fundy asks jokingly, 

Ranboo stutters out laughing, “n-NO!” at the question, Fundy cackling happily afterwards.

They continue mining and Ranboo’s ears twitch slightly at the sound of Fundy yelling ‘NOOOOO’ in a comical amount of anguish.

“THAT JUST BARELY DOESN’T CROSS LOOK AT THIS SHIT!” Fundy yells at Ranboo mines into the little dug out area where Ore used to be that Fundy is in.

“What, what?” Ranboo asks, peaking over to see the redstone in the roof as Fundy whimpers, the noise is strangely fox like and they laugh at it as they continue mining.

“Ah! Gravel!” Fundy yells a few minutes later, Ranboo laughs though they can’t stop themself from peaking over to see if Fundy is okay, him mining into the tunnel perfectly fine (if a bit dusty) a second later.

“Wow you were so close,” They state, jumping back down into their tunnel,

“So- So I read somewhere-” Fundy starts, before gasping happily, “DIAMONDS ON YOUR PATH, BUT THEY CROSSED THROUGH THE MIDDLE!!!”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Ranboo yells over Fundy’s cheers, “I’m going to- I’m going to die.”

“I GOT TWENTY SIX!” Fundy yells in celebration,

“TWENTY SIX?” Ranboo asks, “How did you get twenty six?!”

“I think I got four out of every single one of them,”

“Oh my ender,” Ranboo grumbles, picking up some iron from the wall and continuing to mine.

“SILVERFISH, STOP!” Fundy yells and Ranboo can hear it through the wall even with their ears com on.

“Hehe, that was my trap,” Ranboo states, smirking evilly to themself at their own joke, enjoying hearing Fundy cackle from it,

They continue to mine, Fundy mostly filling the silence with random yells of either terror or happiness and Ranboo making quick quips after,

Ranboo jumps back from a creeper approaching from deeper into a cave they dug into, hitting it with their pickaxe on instinct and causing it to go off next to Fundy. Fundy yelps in response though seems no worse for wear,

“Tactical creeper, it’s fine!” Ranboo says, mostly to themself, as they run back to continue mining in their tunnel, hearing Fundy mock them for having a creeper blow up from behind them.

“Mine, this is mine!” Fundy yells, shoving Ranboo slightly out of the way to dig up ores,

“No! Mine too!” Ranboo responds, digging up as much ore as they can before jumping back into their tunnel, digging into a vein of ore quickly.

“I actually just dug up everything on your side!” They cackle happily, digging up the ore in quick precise motions,

“MINE! MINE! MINE!” Fundy yells into his com, causing Ranboo’s ears to ring uncomfortably though they can’t find themself to care through their own laughter,

“I got middle, middle baby!” Fundy says, and Ranboo can hear the sound of stone breaking through their com,

“No, no!” They yell, quickly finishing up with the ore vein so they can catch up,

“DIAMONDS ON YOUR SIDE!” Fundy announces, cutting them off,

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME I AM GOING TO KILL SOMETHING!”

“I’m so happy!” Fundy says, the words have a pleasant hum that makes Ranboo want to repeat them, hear the noise again, but they don’t

“Of course you are, of course you are you disgusting creature,” They bite back, and almost pull the words back but Fundy brushes them off, Ranboo wonders if Fundy heard them at all,

“I got forty-six!”

“FORTY-SIX? What the heck-”

“LAVA! Oh I'm screwed! I’m screwed, I'm screwed, I'm screwed! There’s lava at head height!”

“Ha! You have to- You have to run through it!” Ranboo crows happily, digging up some of the ore from Fundy’s height and replacing it with cobble so he’ll still have to dig through,

They both fall happily into bickering over ores, jabbing each other quite a few times with their pickaxes (the first time Ranboo feels complete terror that he might’ve actually harmed Fundy, too many bad memories of using pickaxes for much less innocent things, but Fundy’s laughter and yells over the ore being all for him keeps them from falling any further)

“Oh I got a vein right just at the end!” They declare happily, getting the iron before digging the last few blocks,

“Why is this minute so long, this is the longest minute of my life!” They say, waiting for the alarm to go off.

The ring of the alarm manages to make them jump even though they were expecting it and they yell out “Done, done!”, pulling their pickaxe from where they were driving it into the wall, “Okay, head back.”

“How long did we mine?” Ranboo asks, mostly themself, pulling out their communicator, “Oh wow, we mined almost 2000 blocks,”

“No wonder my arms feel like they’re about to fall off,” Fundy says, complaining, and Ranboo chuckles,

Their arms also ache a bit, but they guess they are a bit more used to mining for hours on end than Fundy, who seems to rather stay above ground most the time unless there's a reason to be mining,

“Do you want to do the counting back at the house?” Fundy asks, depositing all the useless cobble, granite, and other things into a chest, along with crafting the redstone and coal into blocks.

“So that everyone can see me win? Sure,” Ranboo teases, and Fundy punches them weakly in the arm,

They travel back quickly, mostly crowing at each other that they OBVIOUSLY won and making up random things they could make the other say,

They go into the living room, not particularly caring about dragging ore dust everywhere (Sam did it with redstone almost every day, Ranboo doesn’t even wanna question the time they went downstairs and found Techno covered in blood,) and setting down a double chest,

“Okay, coal first,” Ranboo says, pulling out their coal blocks to the front of their inventory,

Fundy nods, copying their action,

“First stack,” Ranboo says, putting their first stack of blocks in, keeping them to one side so that theirs and Fundy’s items were easy to discern.

Fundy puts his own stack in, evening out their amounts,

“Okay, second stack,” Ranboo says, putting in their 61 remaining blocks.

Fundy hisses through his teeth, setting in 52 blocks.

Ranboo throws their hands up in excitement, yelling happily while Fundy lets out an anguished ‘NOOOOOOOO’

“Redstone, okay, redstone is next,” Ranboo says after their brief excitement calms down, “First stack,”

They both set their redstone block stacks in

“Second stack,”

Both place it in,

“Third stack,” 

Fundy sighs as Ranboo sets theirs in, hand hovering and not truly setting it down,

“Do you not have a third stack?” Ranboo asks, sounding far too amused, even behind their mask Fundy can almost _sense_ their smile.

He sets down the 62 blocks and Ranboo shouts happily again, setting down another 20 blocks in the chest.

“This is bad, this is extremely bad,” Fundy says, mostly to himself, watching Ranboo happily celebrate their lead,

“Okay, okay let’s do,,,, iron next?” Ranboo asks, Fundy nods in agreement, pulling out his own unsmelted iron,

“Okay, first stack,” Ranboo says, placing them down in the chest and Fundy following suit,

“Second stack,”

“Third stack,”

“Okay final-, wait fourth stack,”

“Oh fuck you,” Fundy hisses, placing down their 36 blocks as Ranboo sets down a stack and 5 more.

“Yess!” Ranboo says happily, grinning happily as Fundy pouts,

“Okay, lapis, put your first- I’m just gonna assume you don’t have more than a stack so just place it down,” Ranboo says, placing down 21 to Fundy’s 56.

“Nooooo,” They whine, as Fundy celebrates his first point,

“Gold next?” Ranboo asks, moving to take it from their inventory,

“No, diamonds first diamonds first,” Fundy says, sure that this point was his,

“Fine just put it in,” Ranboo sighs, placing in their 33 diamonds to Fundy’s stack, 

“What the heck,” They whisper softly after, glaring softly at Fundy’s grin,

They take out their gold, “Okay if we tie, we figure it out, okay?” They say, and Fundy affirms them with a nod,

“Ready, three, two-”

“I don’t wanna,” Fundy says, shifting around the weight of the ores in his paws,

“Three, two-”

“No”

“One-”

“No, no no no,”

“Come on, you gotta,”

“No,”

“You can’t do this to me,”

Fundy sighs, accepting his defeat,

“Three, two, one, place,”

Ranboo places down their 48 blocks as Fundy places down each block individually in a slot in the chest, stretching one and a half rows,

“W-what is this?” Ranboo asks, laughing slightly at the look on Fundy’s face,

“What is that, what is that!?” Ranboo asks and Fundy stays silent, “Is that it?”

“I seriously cry dude,” Fundy says finally, frowning at his clear loss,

“Is that- are you kidding?” Ranboo asks, laughing,

“I’m crying,” Fundy repeats, sitting down on the floor next to the chest in defeat,

“LET’S GO!” Ranboo yells in victory, throwing their hands up happily, unable to stop the delighted enderman vrrps and virrs that come out of their chest. Fundy doesn’t seem to mind them, instead just pouting over his defeat.

“LET’S GO 4 TO 2 BABY!” They yell, clapping as Fundy whines in the background,

Ranboo takes a few more seconds to settle, pulling out their communicator, “Okay, I’m gonna DM you what I want you to say, you have to send it word-for-word,” They say, grinning as they type in the message and send it privately to Fundy.

“I feel really bad but it’s gonna be REALLY FUNNY,” They state as they send the message,

“Don’t, Don’t do me like this,” Fundy says, looking up from their communicator with a horrified look,

“I gotta, that’s the name of the game Fundy,” Ranboo says, sitting across from the fox hybrid now as he stares at his communicator,

“Don’t do me like this, don’t do me like this!” He repeats and Ranboo cackles happily, grinning wide enough their cheeks hurt.

“Look me in the eyes- take your armor off and look me in the eyes,” Fundy commands and Ranboo feels cold anxiety at the idea, though they refuse to not do a direct command from a (friend?) and pull off their armor, looking up at Fundy,

It traps them in place like usual, they can hypothetically move, but even the idea of doing so is uncomfortable. The eye contact is as uncomfortable as usual, though it makes them feel less,,, they don’t know how to say it, they don’t feel like they need to run and hide or stab the person to be safe, they trust Fundy.

It feels nice,

They are distracted from the moment by Fundy’s horrified look and they laugh at him, struggling to stifle it,

“Why,” Fundy asks, and Ranboo laughs harder, leaning back against the couch behind them.

“It would be funny,” Ranboo explains in a voice choked from laughter, trying to stifle it,

Fundy types in the message to his communicator, holding his finger over the button, “Give me like a 3 second countdown,”

“Okay, 3, 2, 1, go”

Fundy presses the button, a resigned look on his face, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much I hate you,” 

**Fundy: I am a furry :3**

Ranboo cheers over Fundy’s shouts about hating them, laughing hysterically when they see the message actually pop on their communicator,

“I HATE YOU SO GODDAMN MUCH!” Fundy yells over Ranboo’s laughter, they have to drag their mask down from their face as they wheeze, doubling over onto the floor,

“I am fuming right now, I hate you,” Fundy says, barely hearable over Ranboo’s laughter,

Ranboo pulls the diamonds out of their inventory, shaky-handed from laughter, and hand it over, “Go ahead, you’ve earned it, I don’t care,” They say through laughter,

Ranboo manages to sit up, still wheezing softly from laughter, Fundy punches them in the arm once or twice, it just making them laugh harder,

“And what are you two doing?” Wilbur asks, suddenly leaning against the doorway, causing Ranboo to jump,

“Ch-check your communicator,” Ranboo says, struggling to talk through their laughter,

Wilbur pulls out his communicator curiously, laughing in surprise when he sees what was sent,

“Aww, you finally came out,” He says, laughing at how Fundy bristles,  
**  
Ph1LzA: yes we know  
Punz: i knew it  
CaptainPuffy: Awww we love and accept you for exactly who you are.... a furry  
**  
Ranboo laughs harder when they see the messages, doubling over again, wheezing with laughter as Fundy shouts at them in rage.

It is a calm afternoon, with Ranboo trapped inside from rain, when they hear a familiar tune from downstairs,

They walk towards it with interest, turning into the living room to see Tommy in the corner, leaning against a jukebox which is humming away with Mellohi playing in it,

Tommy looks up, blinking at them slowly, probably the calmest that Ranboo has seen him well, ever.

“Oh, hi big man,” Tommy says, yawning softly, “Sorry if the jukebox is annoying you, I can turn it off-”

“No, it’s fine!” Ranboo reassures quickly, “I just heard it playing and was interested,” They explain, wringing their hands together nervously,

Tommy raises an eyebrow at them, “Do you want to listen with me?” He asks, gesturing at the other spot,

Ranboo walks over slowly, nervous that Tommy is gonna send them off, but he never does, simply settling back against the wall when Ranboo sits down, not particularly asleep, but dozing,

The next few times go pretty similar, whenever Ranboo hears the hum of the jukebox they will go downstairs and sit next to Tommy, listening to the familiar tune together, while Tommy has other discs, when he sees Ranboo he will switch it to Mellohi, which they appreciate, usually Tommy will fall asleep there. Ranboo has taken to bringing their memory book, writing in it while they listen.

It is one of these nights that they find themself, instead of writing, instead looking at Tommy, they think their penchant for watching people (while a bit creepy) comes from being part Enderman, even though eye contact is a good way to get attacked, enderman like watching players, seeing how they build and interact, and Ranboo finds themself doing similar often,

The sight of Tommy dozing, half-asleep, is strangely cute, and it reminds Ranboo of a cat, or maybe a raccoon, since it’s Tommy, and their hand finds its way into his hair before they can stop it, freezing when they realize what they’ve done.

Tommy simply leans into their hand, purring softly under his breath, and Ranboo slowly, carefully, brushes their fingers through Tommy’s hair, careful not to tug on it.

They repeat the motion a few times before relaxing, shifting so they are next to Tommy so they don’t have to stretch out their arm uncomfortably, brushing through his hair in simple motions.

They feel their own ender-man like purr start, it isn’t really a purr (even though their cats seem to take it as one,) It sounds more like white noise in their opinion, however Tommy seems to not mind it and leans against them, resting on their shoulder, the position a bit strange from the height difference.

It is about an hour later when Tommy blinks awake, jerking away from Ranboo with cheeks dark red with blush, Ranboo laughs at the sight, teasing him softly while he insults them back.

They repeat it the next time they listen to the jukebox together, and after that, and after that.

Ranboo doesn’t really know why they’re out with Wilbur, they have no memories of the entire morning, not even of waking up, so they’re kinda thrown in blind when they find themself walking down one of the familiar paths, Wilbur at their side.

“Are you okay?” Wilbur asks, seemingly noticing Ranboo’s slight panic, even though they were used to it, randomly appearing in different places never got any less confusing.

“Uh, yeah, sorry!” Ranboo says, “I don’t really, remember where I am right now, haha!”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Wilbur says, voice surprisingly soothing, “Do you want me to explain what we’re doing?”

“Please,” Ranboo says, sighing softly at their own memory issues,

“I asked you if you wanted to meet Friend, my pet, and you agreed to, so we are going to him now,” Wilbur explains with a small smile, and Ranboo is very glad he doesn’t seem annoyed at them for forgetting so easily,

“Thanks,” They say softly, “Sorry for forgetting,”

“Oh it’s fine, I get it, I used to have some memory issues of my own!” Wilbur remarks, chuckling slightly to himself,

“You,,, did?” Ranboo asks, tilting their head,

“Oh yeah! It wasn’t short term, like yours is, I don’t know the specific name,” He says, “Basically, some bad stuff happened to me, I won’t get into it, don’t wanna drop my baggage off on a kid, and my brain couldn’t handle it, so it started to forget anything that wasn’t happy,”

“Huh,” Ranboo says softly, “I wish I could only remember happy things, sometimes it feels like I can only remember sad things,”

Wilbur laughs softly, “I guess we’ll just have to give you some happier things worth remembering,” He states, before pausing, “Wait, that sounded wrong, you have no control over if you remember things or not, I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine,” Ranboo says, waving it off, “It’s not the worse thing that’s been said about my memory loss,”

Wilbur nods, letting it go, “I got help from the others in getting over it, coping and stuff, you know?” He says, “I still have some days where I’m,,, spacey at best, but I’m getting better,”

Ranboo nods, “I know you said you don’t wanna put your baggage onto a kid, but if you want to talk about it at some point I’m a good listener,” They offer, “or if you just wanna complain about memory things,”

Wilbur turns to them and smiles, reaching up to ruffle their hair, “Thanks, you’re a good kid Ranboo,” He states, “You should try to talk to Karl, I know he also deals with memory issues,”

Ranboo nods, “I’ll think about it,”

Ranboo is surprised when he sees Schlatt at the cliff they’ve been coming to the past few days, they honestly thought no one knew about it, though they guess they should’ve assumed at least someone would, it is close enough to the house that someone must’ve.

Ranboo honestly is a bit intimidated by the ram hybrid, he always seems so, 3-steps-ahead-of-you, even while blackout drunk and being dragged up the stairs by Niki, like he has some plan, it reminds them a bit of Dream, who also intimidates them,

They’re about to sneak off when Schlatt turns to look at them directly, making them freeze in place.

“Oh, hey kid.” He says, gesturing next to him with the whiskey bottle in his hand, “Come sit down,”

Ranboo walks over timidly, sitting down next to the man, pulling their knees to their chest. They look out over the view, with how high up it is it is mostly skyline, the forest below them, though under them is water, so if someone fell it wouldn’t kill them.

The view is nice, it’s mostly why they come out here, the few times they’ve managed to catch the sunset were breathtaking,

Ranboo looks over at Schlatt, who is sipping slowly at the bottle of whiskey, 

“Isn’t it a bit early to be drinking?” They ask before they can stop themself,

Schlatt laughs, “Yeah, probably,” He states, “I’m not getting drunk though yet, just want the taste, you know?”

“No, not really,” They respond simply, grimacing at the smell of whiskey,

“You ever tried?” Schlatt asks, raising a brow at them,

“Um, like, whiskey or alcohol in general?” They ask, fidgeting with their sleeves,

“Either or I don’t give a shit,” Schlatt responds, taking another drink,

They pause, thinking it over, “Are you going to tell Niki?”

He laughs, “No, I’m not gonna tell on you,”

“Uh, at Hypixel parties they had alcohol sometimes and I’m, not the best with peer pressure!” 

Schlatt nods with a hum, “What’d you try?”

“Um, one time they had this chorus fruit wine and they wanted to see if it’d make me teleport like it would for others, I had to drink a lot, like 8 glasses, I got super sick,” They state, cringing slightly at the memory,

Schlatt grimaces, “That sucks, sorry that was your experience,” He says, and Ranboo blinks at him acting so,, nice, they just kinda assumed he was always mean.

“It’s fine,” They assure, “I forget most of it anyways,”

“You ever try whiskey?” Schlatt asks, tapping a keratin nail against the glass of the bottle,

“No,” They reply, shaking their head softly,

Schlatt looks down at the bottle and then holds it out, “Wanna try a sip?”

“Um, no thank you,” They say, pushing it away softly with their fingers, careful not to spill it,

Schlatt laughs softly but pulls the bottle back, taking a sip, “You’re a good kid, you know? Remind me a lot of Niki,”

“Really?” Ranboo asks, surprised, people usually didn’t compare the two (unless they were trying to make the point that Ranboo was worse, that always sucked).

“Yeah, all quiet but with a ton of morals,” Schlatt states simply,

Ranboo cringes slightly, “I have the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair,” They state, tone a bit disappointed, mostly at themself,

Schlatt rolls his eyes, “Just because you struggle to go by them doesn’t mean you don’t have them, kid,” He states, “and hey, Tubbo likes you so you must be doin’ somethin right, kid’s a good judge of character,”

Ranboo blinks, looking over, “Oh yeah, aren’t you like, his dad or something?”

Schlatt grimaces slightly, “Kinda, it’s,,,, complicated,”

Ranboo raises an eyebrow, “How can if you’re his dad or not be complicated?” They ask, before quickly realizing that they’re prying and going to pull back the words,

Schlatt laughs in response, sighing, “Yeah, you’d think so, huh?” He asks, shaking his head slightly, “We got separated when he was real young, that’s why he has that stupid accent,” He explains, fondness in his tone, “I only found him again through Wilbur, Phil had found him and took care of him, I still owe him for that, I don’t know if Tubbo really thinks of me as a dad though, I wasnt there,”

“Man thats,,,, wow,” Ranboo states dumbly, not really knowing how to respond, “That sucks,”

“Yeah, I’m just glad I found him again, I thought I lost him for good,” Schlatt says with a shrug, “We’re working on it,”

Ranboo nods, “And you’re telling me this,,,, why?”

Schlatt looks over at them and they gulp, avoiding eye contact, “Look, you’re a good kid, and I trust Niki’s judgement on her own family,” He says, “But I don’t particularly trust you yet, I just think its a bit strange how you show’d up, out of nowhere, injured, and conveniently don’t have the memory to know how you got onto a private server,”

They frown, swallowing nervously, forcing down the urge to spill everything to the man in front of him, they wouldn’t ruin this for themself, “Sorry,” They choke out, looking away and instead at the far drop below,

“I’m not gonna kick you out or something, but if I even hear about you harming Tubbo, you will regret it,” Schlatt threatens, standing up and putting a hand on Ranboo’s head, between wear their crown sits, the movement is strangely affectionate even though it just came after a threat, “Stay out of trouble, kid,”

“Okay,” They squeak, trembling slightly as Schlatt walks off,

What a strange, strange man.

Ranboo hums to themself softly, closing up their notebook after writing their latest page, and then, after a second, re-opening it and looking over the first page.  
**  
Friends  
Niki  
Tubbo  
Tommy  
Eret  
Bad????  
Fundy  
Sam  
Wilbur  
Schlatt?????  
**  
It is definitely the fullest the page has ever been, and the sight makes them smile.

They are broken out of their happy moment by a sting of pain.

They hiss, setting down their book and shoving off their jacket, rubbing a hand over one of the stings,

It is over the pink outlines of a soulmark across their back, Niki’s, they’ve felt it before, mostly before they left for Hypixel, but it hasn’t acted up in a while unless they thought a lot about Niki, or the times that it acted up randomly that was probably from Niki thinking about them.

The weird part is that it’s not the only mark that’s stinging uncomfortably.

The green outlines on their back, a bit under Niki’s mark, that extend around their front,

“ _ℸ ̣ ⚍ʖʖ𝙹_ ”

Their palms and a mark on their chest, right over their heart, outlined in gold.

“ _ℸ ̣ 𝙹ᒲᒲ||_ ”

On their shoulder, outlined in a redder pink than Niki’s, the color of strawberries,

“ _ᒷ∷ᒷℸ_ ”

On both of their cheeks, a dark red that used to remind them of blood, but now is comforting,

" _ʖᔑ↸_

A mark wrapping around their forearm, orangish red.

“ _⎓⚍リ↸||_ ”

On their head, the outline barely showing in the white side of their hair, different shades of green that sometimes flash the color of redstone,

“ _ᓭᔑᒲ_ ”

On their jaw and under their chin in a sunflower yellow,

“ _∴╎ꖎʖ⚍∷_ ”

And very, very vaguely, on one of their back shoulder blades, a dark woody brown.

“ _ᓭᓵ⍑ꖎᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣_ ”

They sigh softly in pain, laying down on their bed and curling up. The pain is not unbearable, honestly, it is very light, like when water lands on them and hasn’t really started burning yet, but it is uncomfortable and leaves them with an empty unfulfilled feeling.

They can deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it? Also Schlatt's threat was more protectiveness over Tubbo than him being like, mean to Ranboo, thats just how Schlatt is.
> 
> If you are wondering why Quackity isn't on the friend list while Bad is, Ranboo thinks that Quackity dislikes them because Quackity is pretty suspicious of new people.
> 
> Oh also can you tell I like platonic funboo because I spent so long on that portion but it's from an actual mining competition video and I love it so much.


	14. Hybrid Traits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo experiments with Ranboo's hybrid traits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that is half just a copy-paste of a real event? Of course!
> 
> I'm kidding, but I hope you enjoy it, oh also Jack is there.

It is just a random day on the SMP, full of Ranboo just wandering the lands, when they see a grass block that they just need to have.

It’s just, in the wrong spot, it isn’t, actually, Ranboo is sure that it is there naturally, but it shouldn’t be.

They are on autopilot as they pick it up, carry it a few feet, and then set it on the ground, tail lashing at their ankles happily at the new placement that feels right.

They don’t even question that they didn’t use a shovel, nevermind a silk touch one. They just move on with their day normally.

After that it becomes a normal thing for them to find a block that they just, want, that they need to just pick up and hold. Mostly grass (and once a dirt block). They will hold it for a little bit, and then find a spot that it fits in and leave it there.

Sometimes they find something that they need to give someone else, though, that’s always more difficult. They usually leave it inside or just outside the person’s room and hope they get it.

They are out with Tubbo and Jack one day, both chattering away on their ear com, when they find a grass block that just, doesn’t fit, and pick it up. 

“I figured this out just recently and it is very- It is very nice to do, I find it very relaxing,” They state, setting down the grass.

“What, picking up the grass and placing it back down?” Tubbo asks, and then follows it up with, “Wait, where did that grass come from?”

“I picked it up,” They explain simply, like it was obvious,

“What do your hands have silk touch?” Tubbo asks, half joking,

“I- What?” Ranboo asks, broken out of their little haze of happy emotions from placing the block,

“How do you pick up the grass?” Tubbo asks, now looking curious as they stare up at Ranboo,

“I just pick it up,” Ranboo explains, demonstrating by picking up the grass block

Tubbo stares in shock at the unharmed block, “How on earth are you picking- how on earth are you mining that?!” He asks, standing up to follow Ranboo as they walk off to find another place to put it down,

“Block,” They whisper happily to themself as they set it down again, tail lashing happily,

“Look when I mine it, it just goes to dirt,” Tubbo says, scooping up handfuls of soil from the no longer intact block when he tries to pick it up like he saw Ranboo did, “But when you do it doesn’t?”

“I don’t know man I just like grass,” Ranboo says, a little waver in their tone as they pick up another, natural piece of dirt in a perfect block, eyes lighting up in excitement when they realize they have almost a stack in their inventory, “I have so many, this is fantastic,”

“Wait that doesn’t, that doesn’t make sense,” Tubbo says, before pointing at a piece of grass, “Pick up this one here,”

“Okay!” Ranboo responds happily, picking up the grass block with ease, setting down the block a little bit to the right,

“What the hell!” Tubbo yells, staring at the perfectly intact block,

“I thought he was using a shovel or something, what!?” Jack asks, poking at the block like it’s gonna dissolve into pieces,

“There’s not even a plugin on the server that could do that!” Tubbo says, scrolling through the plugins on his communicator to check, “Do it again!” He commands, pointing at the ground,

Ranboo whimpers a little at the yells, “I’m not gonna do it again you guys are looking at me weird,” They state, crossing their arms over their chest and walking away as both chase them,

“No it’s a cool weird, just show us again!” Jack states, “It’s good it’s good we just don’t understand it!”

“Please, do it again, please!” Tubbo begs, using his puppy dog eyes (which don’t work as well when the person isn’t looking at his eyes, apparently, good to know,) “Come on just pick up that one there,” He says, pointing to another block,

Ranboo grumbles as they pick up the block, even though the placement is correct, and as soon as they know they see it sets it back where it belongs, “There,”

“How the hell!” Tubbo yells again, hands reaching up and gripping his horns in confusion, “Can you do it with stone?”

“What do you mean with stone?” Ranboo asks, watching as Tubbo walks off in the direction of a small cave,

“Enderman can pick up stone, come on just try it,” He states, pointing at some of the visible stone,

“Oh yeah, they can,” Jack says, following Tubbo behind Ranboo,

“I don’t think I can do stone, it would take a long time,” Ranboo states, though they grab the stone between the small grooves anyways, “I’m only half,”

“Just try!” Tubbo encourages, watching as Ranboo pulls at the stone,

They fall back a little as the stone comes out, the force they were using to pull it sending them to the floor, 

“WHAT?!” Tubbo yells in excitement, staring at the intact stone, 

“Oh, neat!” Ranboo says, staring at the stone happily, they place it down next to them as they get up, a good place,

“What about leaves, try leaves,” Tubbo commands, leading Ranboo over to a tree,

They sigh softly, more acting annoyed than actual annoyance, and pick up the leaves, much quicker than the stone at least,

“What the hell!” Tubbo yells, again, and they are confused how Tubbo keeps being surprised by this,

“Pick it up and put it back?” Tubbo asks, a mix of amazement and confusion in his tone, and they pick up the block again and set it down again.

Jack tries to pick up the block but just ends up destroying it, loose leaves falling onto the floor, “Well I can’t do it,” He says, sounding unsurprised,

“How about glass?” Tubbo asks, “Could you do glass?”

“I don’t know I’ve never really,,,, tried,” Ranboo states, wringing their hands nervously, “I mean, I’ve only ever tried grass blocks until now, so,”

“Here, I’ll get a piece of glass and a piece of ice,” Tubbo says, running off to one of his chests, “Oh, and an enderchest!”

“That’s going to take a long time,” Ranboo complains softly, watching as Tubbo sets out the blocks,

“Try the enderchest first,” Tubbo says, patting the enderchest’s lid and stepping back,

Ranboo sighs, putting their hands on the sides of the enderchest and trying to lift it up, struggling for a few minutes before it finally detaches and sends them to the floor, holding it in their hands,

“Cool, now I have three enderchests,” They state, storing it in their inventory with the other ones,

“Now try the packed ice,” Tubbo says,

Ranboo picks up the ice easily, setting it back down a block to the right,

“Try the glass,”

Ranboo repeats the action with the glass,

Tubbo picks up both of the blocks with his silk touch pickaxe, a look of shock on his face,

“I actually don’t understand it,” Jack says, staring in shock at the items that Tubbo is now holding,

“Wait, so what are the limits of this, can you teleport?” Tubbo asks,

Ranboo freezes, and they wonder why their heart skips a beat for a second before just putting it down as normal anxiety, “I mean, I have pearls?”

“I mean like actually, without pearls,” Tubbo says and Ranboo grimaces, hoping that Tubbo would just let it go,

“Uh, no I don’t, think so,” They say, wringing their hands together uncomfortably,

“How about you try to teleport to that little hill over there, REALLY focus,” Tubbo says, pointing to the spot,

Ranboo stares that the spot, thinking about wanting to be over there, nothing happens,

“Is anything happening?” Tubbo asks after a few seconds, 

“No, no,” They state, shaking their head, “Sorry,”

“What about if we put a little bit of water on you and take it off and see what happens?” Tubbo asks innocently, and Ranboo frowns,

“Can we not actually?” They say, “It’s not like it does, a lot of damage, but over time,” They trail off, frowning,

Tubbo and Jack nod, accepting it,

“So you can just pick up whatever you want?” Tubbo says, and Ranboo chuckles at the childlike wonder in his eyes,

“Well not whatever I want but most things, yeah,” They say, smiling behind their mask,

“That’s so cool!” Tubbo hisses happily, flapping his hands in front of him, “Can you do anything else?”

“Um, I can unhinge my jaw?” They say, the attention makes them nervous but feels good, kinda like when they won a match on Hypixel but without the Murder Guilt.

“THAT’S SO FUCKING COOL!!!” Tubbo says, shaking his hands happily, “You have to show me!”

They smile, “Fine,” They say, pulling off their mask, “Fine,”

That night they sleep soundly, at least for a while, before the dreams start,

They’ve had nightmares since they were a young child, to the point they would refuse to sleep to stave them off.

But this feels different, a mix of feeling too real to the point that they can physically feel the texture of the obsidian under them, combined with the knowledge that this was a dream as soon as they opened their eyes,

They are in a small room with words carved into the wall that are distorted, and they can’t make out. They can feel the leather of their memory book in their hands, but when they open it all the pages are completely blank, a smiley face drawn at the front,

“End and Aether,” They curse to themself, chuckling slightly in fear, they can hear rushing water outside the room.

“Hello,” a familiar voice says, and they look up quickly, coming face to face with a familiar mask,

“Dream?” They ask, “What are you doing here?”

“Just visiting, you know?” He says, his voice is different, echoey and softer than normal Dream’s, “I like your little panic room here,” 

“Is that what this is?” They ask themself softly, looking around, it makes sense, they had made something like this before,

“Of course,” Dream says, “You made it to give you safe space to,,,,, remember things,”

“What do you mean?” Ranboo asks, laughing nervously, “I usually just use my memory book for that,”

“Well, yes,” Dream says, tilting his head, “But think of this as a physical place to process them, less of a panic room and more of a,,,,”

“Comfort room?” They finish, 

Dream nods, “Yes! Like that,”

“So why are you here?” They ask, “I don’t particularly find you the most comforting? Why not Niki or someone else, like, I don’t know, Tubbo? Or Eret? Or even Tommy,”

He laughs, a familiar kettle wheeze even though it echoes in the room strangely, “I could look like them if you want, but this is what I’m used to looking like,”

“What?” They ask, “But my brain made you, right?”

He doesn’t respond, just making a humming noise softly from behind his mask to alert Ranboo that he heard them at all,

“Um, okay,” They say softly, “What about why this room looks like this, can I ask that?”

“Obsidian is a safe material, no one can get in, and you like small places,” He explains, “But it can look however you want, I could even have your pets here, they won’t be the real ones, of course,”

“Of course,” Ranboo echoes softly, “So what should I call you, since I can’t really call you ‘dream dream’” They ask,

“How about DreamXD,” He states, “Or just XD is fine,”

“Okay,” They respond, “Nice to meet you, I guess,”

“Nice to meet you too, Ranboo,” XD says, “I hope that I can help you,”

“Uh, thanks,” They respond, they feel weird, slightly faint, and tired even though they are currently asleep, they almost think it’s funny,

“Oh, it’s time for you to wake up,” XD states, “Well, see you next time,”

“What?” Ranboo asks, swaying slightly even though they’re leant against a wall, “But it’s only been a few minutes?”

“Time passes differently here,” XD explains, “You’ll be here again, don’t worry, just wake up,”

They slump against the wall at the same moment they sit up in bed, the feeling is incredibly strange and leaves them a little dizzy,

Enderpearl meows angrily at them from where they were sleeping on their chest,

Ranboo chuckles, “Sorry Enderpearl,” They say softly, reaching down to pet them, “I didn’t mean to push you off,”

Enderpearl purrs happily, pushing their head into Ranboo’s head.

Ranboo sighs and brings their hand back after a few seconds, pushing the blankets off of themself, looking out the window,

It is early morning, breakfast will probably be in a bit.

What a strange dream they had, but it’s probably just a weird one-time thing, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's DreamXD doing here? :>


	15. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur and Ranboo open up to eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vague TW for mentions of domestic abuse, violence, and muzzles.

The morning goes shockingly normally after such a strange dream.

They get ready like usual, they decide to not deal with the pain of taking a shower, so instead they just get a clean change of clothes, besides their usual jacket, the familiar weight calming, and leave their room after feeding their cats.

They are one of the first of the ‘kids’ up, and they almost laugh at how easy to tell that is when they don’t hear Tommy’s yelling. They walk quietly and carefully down the stairs and then through the dining room into the kitchen.

“G’mornin mate!” Phil says, smiling at them from where he is stirring what they guess from smell, is probably pancake batter, “You’re up a bit early,”

“Had a weird dream,” They explain softly, “Woke up early and decided to just get up,”

“Oh, was it a nightmare?” He asks, looking up at them with worried eyes. Ranboo feels kinda bad for saying that now.

“No, not a nightmare, just weird,” They say, giving him a nervous smile, “What are you making?”

“Just pancakes, everyone likes them and they’re pretty simple,” Phil says, “They’ll be done in a bit if you wanna wait,”

“Could I help?” They ask, fidgeting with their sleeves,

“Sure!” Phil says, “Stir this until all the clumps are gone and then stop, you don’t wanna overmix.”

They nod, taking the whisk from Phil and breaking up the clumps as Phil collects things to put into the pancakes, cutting up different fruits and setting out things like chocolate chips.

They finish stirring and tap the on the side of the bowl to get some of the remaining batter off, smiling proudly at their (admittedly small) work.

“That looks good, we can probably start them once the pan heats up,” Phil says, looking over at the batter before setting up the pan and putting some butter in so it won’t stick,

“There sure is a lot,” Ranboo mumbles, leaning against the counter as he waits for the pan to heat,

“There’s a lot of people here, and Tommy eats enough to feed several horses,” Philza states, surprising a small laugh out of Ranboo,

They work together to make the pancakes for everyone, Ranboo wonders how Philza remembers what everyone likes, but thinks it's probably a bit easier without the memory loss.

Others trickle downstairs slowly, varying levels of sleepy. Ranboo’s not completely sure that Wilbur or Techno are even awake when they stumble to the table (and doesn’t understand what Philza means when he snickers ‘sleepy bois inc’) but sets the coffee pot and some mugs down on the table in front of them and hopes they don’t end up burning themselves on it.

They almost find it funny how obvious it is when Tommy is up, sounds of him and Tubbo already arguing with Fundy over,,,, something, they can’t really figure out what, but it seems mostly joking as they walk down the stairs shoving each other and laughing.

“Ranboo, do you wanna come with me to visit Friend again today?” Wilbur asks, notably more awake after finishing his glass of coffee,

“Oh, sure!” They respond, a bit surprised that Wilbur wants to hang out with them again so soon, “I’m gonna need to get my stuff after breakfast, though.”

“You fucking gremlins with your armor,” Wilbur grumbles with no real malice, sipping through his second cup of coffee while Ranboo laughs,

Ranboo doesn’t really know how to feel about seeing Dream again after the strange dream, they haven’t really interacted with him besides when they first woke up (which is pretty awkward, looking back).

Looking back, Dream looks quite a bit different than XD, less abstract, though they guess that should be a bit obvious, since XD was in their dreams and Dream is well, real.

They realize they’re probably staring and quickly look down to their plate instead.

They had cocoa powder in theirs, not particularly wanting to deal with chocolate chips, the mix of textures messes with them, and they didn’t really feel like dealing with that sensory experience today. Though they did put whipped cream on top, just to add a bit more sweetness.

They eat slowly, unable to really focus on whatever is going on. Why did they have that dream? Of all the people for their mind to create to talk to memories about (even for something one-time) why would it be Dream? The man intimidates them quite a bit and they don’t particularly feel safe around him, though XD felt a bit different, he still wore the face of the man that Ranboo feared.

They notice the corners of their vision going staticy and blurring, they squint uncomfortably at it, blinking to try to make it go away, probably just something in their eyes.

Ranboo blinks, stumbling over their feet as their surroundings slowly come in, they can vaguely hear Wilbur’s voice in the background, but none of it processes correctly in their brain.

“I think i’ve done this before,” They grumble softly, remembering a similar thing happening a few days prior,

“What?” Wilbur asks, looking at them curiously, Ranboo notices that he’s holding a lead attached to Friend,

“Oh, sorry,” Ranboo says, and after a second of thought, follows it up with, “I blanked out,”

“Oh!” Wilbur says, “You were saying it was like when you blanked out with me last time!”

Ranboo nods, “Sorry, it probably isn’t the best that I keep forgetting when we’re together,”

“Oh it’s fine, not like you can control it,” Wilbur reassures, before frowning, “Or am I triggering it?”

“No, no!” They assure quickly, “It’s just coincidence, you’re not causing it or something!”

Wilbur sighs softly in relief, “Good, I was worried I might’ve been causing you to forget more or something,” He says,

“No, as far as I know there's no reason, it just happens,” They say, “It gets worse when I’m stressed or anxious, though,”

Wilbur nods with a hum, “That must suck to deal with,”

“Yeah, I’ve gotten pretty used to it, though,” Ranboo says, a hint of bitterness in their tone,

“Do you want to know what we’re doing?” Wilbur asks, gesturing around them,

“That would be nice,” Ranboo admits, “Because I really do not know,”

Wilbur chuckles, “Well, I asked you if you wanted to come with me to visit friend and give him a walk, we are currently doing that,”

“Oh, okay,” Ranboo says, “Thank you,”

“No problem, I told you before, I get it,” Wilbur assures, and smiles at them,

“Uh, yeah, I remember,” They reply awkwardly, “You wanna, uh, talk more about that?”

Wilbur frowns softly and they wince, “No, but like, ugh,” Wilbur rubs a hand down his face, “I don’t NOT want to talk about it, I just don’t want to, like, drop my trauma on a sixteen year old,”

“We could, like, trade?” Ranboo suggests, “Ask each other questions, and we can pass if we want,”

“Fine, but I’m going first then,” Wilbur states, “What are the scars on your mouth from? I see them at meals and I have no clue what they could be from,”

“Oh, these?” Ranboo asks, pulling down their mask to point at the thin marks, Wilbur nods, Ranboo winces, not expecting such a big question off the bat, “You know how some people don’t like hybrids?”

“Quite personally,” Wilbur states with a bit of bitterness,

“Well, the village I was born in was pretty, bad, with those things,” They explain, wringing their hands, “They thought I was a demon or cursed or something, pretty funny now looking back, since I live with a demon who i’m pretty sure is the sweetest person I’ve ever met,”

“Bad is a sweetie,” Wilbur states softly, listening intently to their story,

“Enderman don’t have fangs when they’re born, they grow in over time, and when mine grew in fully my mother wasn’t quite happy and well,” They chuckle humorlessly, “Hybrid muzzles exist,”

“Fuck,” Wilbur whispers, horrified, “I’m so sorry,”

“It’s fine,” Ranboo says, rubbing a gloved hand along the scars, “I started wearing the mask to replace the pressure it had on my face, I wasn’t used to there being nothing there. It also helps hide the scars,”

“That’s fucked up mate,” 

“Yeah, I got over it mainly, it’s still a bit hard to, talk, sometimes,” They admit, “I’m scared that someone will put it back on, or if I smile without my mask they’ll see my fangs and put it on me,”

“Hey, we’re never going to do that to you, okay?” Wilbur assures softly, “You’re allowed to smile and laugh and shit without the mask and we’ll never EVER put something like that on you,”

“Okay,” Ranboo breathes, they knew, to be honest, but the confirmation is soothing, “I guess it’s my turn to ask you a question?”

Wilbur nods, 

“Okay, so, you’re Fundy’s dad, right? Is he like, adopted? Since you’re not that old and he’s my age,”

“Oh, no, he’s my biological son,” Wilbur states, “I had him pretty young and his fox hybrid features made him age quicker than normal, it was sad, I never got to cherish when he was a cute widdle toddler,” Wilbur says, voice cooing softly at the end, “It only slowed down when he was about 14 physically, so he’s aging normally now,”

“So how old is he really?” Ranboo asks, 

“To be honest, I have absolutely no clue,” Wilbur admits, “I was basically on the run from his mother with him, and right after my amnesia got incredibly bad. I feel really terrible about it, but Fundy doesn’t mind, since it keeps him from getting bullied by Tommy about being the youngest,”

“Huh,” Ranboo responds, “Well, your turn, I guess,”

“Okay, hmm,” Wilbur hums, thinking of his question, “Are you touch averse? You flinch a lot when people touch you and I don’t want us making you uncomfortable,”

“Oh, no, I’m fine with like, touch,” Ranboo says, “I’m just, not really used to it,”

Wilbur raises an eyebrow but nods, “Your turn,”

“You said you were, uh, running with Fundy? From his mom? What is that about,”

Wilbur sighs sadly, “Well, his mom was this beautiful lady, a salmon hybrid, named Sally,” He states, rolling up one of the sleeves of his yellow sweater to show a scarred, salmon-red mark, wrapping around just a bit above his elbow, “I thought she was a lovely lady, she was a bit older than me and the pregnancy happened, she wanted to keep it and I refused to leave her, even though I definitely wasn’t ready for parenthood,”

Ranboo hums to show Wilbur they’re still listening, 

“She convinced me to leave with her, that everyone here was just using me, and I trusted her, then I had little Fundy, and after she started getting, worse,” Wilbur says, frowning, “She started insulting me more, or leaving me to care for Fundy by myself, even hit me a few times,”

Ranboo frowns but let’s Wilbur continue, not wanting to interrupt,

“I met Schlatt, I don’t even really remember how, some business partnership, we marked each other within a few days,” Wilbur says, smiling fondly but sadly at the memory, “Fundy told her,,,, something she didn’t like to hear, and she threatened to kick him out, or kill him, I was so terrified, I stepped in front and she hurt me badly. I took Fundy and ran to him, begged him to help,” Wilbur says, “Schlatt brought me back here and I got my, you know, memory problems, everyone helped me through them and helped me raise Fundy, since I wasn’t in the shape to, and now I’ve healed,”

“Wow,” Ranboo mutters, horrified, “That’s terrible,”

Wilbur laughs humorlessly, “Yeah, it sucked, I still have bad days, sometimes, where everything is hazy, the others know the signs by now, you’ll probably see me go through one eventually, if you stay,”

“Huh?” Ranboo asks, surprise clear in their tone,

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to!” Wilbur assures quickly, nervousness clear in his tone, “But, if you want, you can stay here, with us all,”

“I’m allowed to stay?” They ask meekly, refusing to let themself believe until they get the confirmation,

“Of course,” Wilbur breathes, “As long as you’d like,”

They nod shakily, biting down hard on their bottom lip to keep it from wobbling,

They’re allowed to stay, they have a home, they have a home here,

“Oh Ranboo,” Wilbur cooes softly, noticing them getting teary eyed, “Do you want a hug?”

“Th-that’d be nice,” They stutter, rapidly blinking away tears to stop them from burning their cheeks,

Wilbur drops Friend’s lead to wrap his arms around Ranboo, he is tall enough that Ranboo can comfortably rest their chin on his shoulder if they lean down,

“You’re okay,” Wilbur soothes softly, rubbing circles onto their back as they struggle to hold back tears, “Thank you for opening up to me,”

“Y-you’re welcome,” They say back, basically wiping their eyes on Wilbur’s shoulder, “Sorry for getting all emotional, it’s stupid,”

“It’s not, you’re allowed to feel things, Ranboo,” Wilbur says, carding one of his hands through their hair, “I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to show them in front of me,”

“Yeah,” They respond, laughing wetly, “It’s hard, I’m scared you’ll get angry,”

“I promise I’ll never get mad at you for showing emotions, alright?” Wilbur says, “If you ever need to vent or something you can come to me, or anyone, and we’ll help, okay?”

“Okay,” They say softly, “okay,”

They are strangely, not surprised when they wake up that night back in the obsidian room, XD sitting in front of them,

“Hello Ranboo,” XD greets, “Have a nice day?”

“I think so,” They say, “I talked with Wilbur,”

“I saw,” XD states, “Did it feel good to get that off of your chest?”

“Yeah,” They admit softly, “It felt like he really listened, no one’s ever listened,”

“I’m glad,” XD says,

“Of course you are, if I’m happy you would be, you’re just me,” Ranboo says, chuckling slightly,

“Oh, of course,” XD states sarcastically with a small kettle wheeze, “Keep telling yourself that,”

They roll their eyes in response,

“So, how do you feel about it?”

“About what?” They ask, confused

“The muzzle, you’ve talked about it, so how do you feel about it?”

“No different,” They scoff, “It sucked,”

“Not what I mean,” XD states with a huff, “Are you still scared that they’ll put one on you?”

“No,” Ranboo says, “But I’m still scared someone will,”

“Oh?” XD prompts, tilting his head,

“Like, someone might take me, and put one on me, and make me hurt people again,” They admit, curling in more on themself, “Or maybe they’ll just trap me in a prison and never let me leave for the things I did,”

“They will protect you,” XD states, “None of them would ever stop looking, they’re already too fond,”

“I’m sorry if I don’t trust my own judgement on that,” They say bitterly,

“Why are you so convinced that I’m just a creation of your mind?” XD asks,

“Because you are in my dream, it wouldn’t make sense for you to be anything else!” Ranboo argues, sounding a bit hysteric at the end,

XD hums, “I could be plenty of other things,”

“Like what?”

XD doesn’t respond, just sitting across from them perfectly still,

“Are you happy with them Ranboo?”

“What?”

“With them all, the essempi?”

“I-, yes, very much so,”

“That’s good,” XD says, “They’re happy with you,”

“Oh,” Ranboo says softly, “That’s good,”

Their vision feels blurry at the edges, like it gets when they’re incredibly tired,

“I’m happy with you too, Ranboo,” XD says, sounding painfully honest,

“That doesn’t make sense, I’m not happy with myself,” Ranboo states, slurring their words slightly,

“You will be,” XD says softly, “You’re waking up now, stay safe okay?”

“Okay,” They respond softly, slumping down again as they wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vague Ranboo backstory chapter??? Of course :>  
> Originally this was just the Wilbur and Ranboo conversation but someone in a comment guessed that you'd all get a Ranboo morning routine so I decided to give you it, as a treat.


	16. Duels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy, Tubbo, and Purpled pull Ranboo into some duels, Ranboo starts disassociating from this and wanders off. Ponk helps grounding them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for dissociation/derealization, questioning being real/alive, and vague hallucinations/mentions to hallucinating, nightmares, also dueling of course.

Being dragged off to help someone is honestly not that new to Ranboo, they think everyone feels bad with them just spending all their time mining and collecting materials, though they honestly don’t mind either way.

But feeling included is also nice, so when Tommy drags him off with Tubbo and Purpled to the training area that they have avoided like the plague, they can’t make themself leave.

Instead they stay at the edges, watching as the three trade out matches, whoever is not currently fighting instead staying next to them. Sometimes yelling encouragement or instructions, other times just laughing as the two dueling stumble over themselves.

Ranboo stays out of it as much as they can, instead just watching. Purpled is clearly untrained professionally, but has skill from practice, focusing mainly on messing up the other person and then striking. Tubbo is mostly just dueling to have fun, but is shockingly strong as he easily knocks the others down when he gets a hit in. Tommy is shockingly talented but held back from that skill by being a bit too confident and getting distracted easily.

They huff a soft laugh as they watch Purpled easily kick Tommy’s legs out from under him, sending him to the floor with a small ‘oomph’.

Purpled walks over to the wall and slumps against it tiredly as Tubbo get’s up to switch out,

“Hey Ranboo, big man, why don’t you fight!?” Tommy calls, a bit too loud for the not that far distance,

“Um, are you sure?” Ranboo asks, wringing their hands nervously,

“Come on, I’ll go easy,” Tommy says, a big grin on his face as he swings around his sword in obviously unsafe motions,

“Maybe you should let this one go big man-” Tubbo says uneasily, before getting cut off by Ranboo standing,

“Do you have a sword I can use?” They ask, they feel similar to when they were waiting for a Hypixel game to start, a weird sort of calm easing into their bones, covering their anxiety. They would go easy on them of course, the idea of even bruising any of them makes their stomach twist nauseously.

Purpled raises a brow from next to them, looking surprised that they agreed, but hands over an extra iron sword, none of them were allowed to use anything stronger after multiple stabbings (only a few accidental.)

Ranboo takes it, rolling their wrist a few times to get used to the unfamiliar weight as they step in front of Tommy, lowering their stance to have better balance.

Tommy gets into his own position, a confident smirk on his face, Ranboo knows he is going to attack first and shifts slightly to be ready to guard.

Tommy, as expected, jumps forward, sliding into the momentum of the swing and coming down hard at where Ranboo’s head would be, if he hadn’t already moved.

Ranboo slides under the blade easily, jumping back to avoid the few quick frantic slashes that Tommy makes at them once he gets his bearings again from the first swing, dodging and side-stepping them.

They wait until the swipes falter from tiredness, lifting their sword in a quick moment and catching Tommy’s blade, twisting the sword and sending it flying off to the side, clattering onto the ground.

While Tommy is stuck in the shock of losing his blade Ranboo quickly swipes his feet from under him, pointing the blade down at him, but careful not to put him in any actual danger, they don’t want to hurt him.

“Holy shit big man!” Tubbo calls from the sidelines, snapping Ranboo out of the battle haze, “That was awesome!”

Ranboo quickly puts away their own sword and helps Tommy up,

“You did pretty good! You need to be less obvious on your first attack though,” Ranboo praises, smiling down at the shorter boy,

“You kicked my ass,” Tommy states once he gets out of his shock, glaring at him (it’s more of a pout, honestly) 

“No, you did great!” Ranboo assures, “You lasted longer than most people do,”

Tommy looks just a tiny bit proud at that before being pushed out of the way by Tubbo,

“Move over big T, I wanna try!” He says, chuckling at Tommy’s pout as Tommy picks up his discarded sword and goes back to the wall, where Purpled is watching, much more interested than he had been with the other duels.

Tubbo gets into his position happily, Ranboo following suit. Tubbo is more grounded than Tommy, harder to knock over and able to absorb blows, and probably won’t attack first.

Ranboo attacks first, not going with a big move but instead just quick, harsh blows that Tubbo is forced to block.

The bad thing about being grounded and stable and hard-hitting, you tire easily.

Not many of the blows hit, and the ones that do aren’t that bad, but they’re not trying to hit him yet.

Before they tire themself out they jump back, not wanting to fall for the same thing Tommy did the round before.

It takes a second for Tubbo to shake himself off before going in for strikes, all of them are hard-hitting and in long strikes, but easy to dodge, and they are careful to not get hit.

Tubbo does not have the cockiness of Tommy, but he is confident, and Ranboo tries to feed into it, make him less calculated.

All it takes is one wrong move where he is left with an open area, unprotected, for Ranboo to strike, lifting their sword back easily and bringing it down at the spot on Tubbo’s side, stopping before it actually hits.

Tubbo freezes, more on instinct than actual fear.

“I win,” Ranboo states simply, stepping back from the smaller boy and putting away their sword, “You did really good! You hit really hard but you tire out too easily, you need to focus more on less harsh blocks that take up a lot of energy and more on parrying.”

Tubbo beams under the praise, “You did good too! You fought differently than you did with Tommy so easily!”

“Not really,” Ranboo says with a shrug, “Same thing in a different order,”

“Can you go again?” Purpled asks and Ranboo jumps just a bit, not realizing how close Purpled had got, “I wanna try,”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Ranboo says, smiling weakly from under their mask, they don’t really get tired that easily, but Purpled is kinda intimidating, and they know he was incredibly good at Bedwars, also their heart is beating a bit too quickly for them to think it’s just adrenaline and while they are not breathing quickly enough to be worrying, it kinda feels like their chest is being compressed.

Tubbo leaves the small dueling arena (it's more of a field in fences with a wall, but whatever), sitting next to Tommy and watching the fight curiously.

Ranboo and Purpled both get into position.

Ranboo narrows their eyes, it is hard to discern what Purpled will do, he could either set off and attack first or dodge a blow easily.

Before they can think any longer they yelp as Purpled moves forward quickly, their swords slamming together hard and jarring Ranboo’s arm uncomfortably.

They hit the sword away and roll to the side, blocking another hit as they shove themself off the ground.

They dodge under blows and focus on also delivering their own, sparsing Purpled’s assault a bit.

They avoid hitting as hard as they could, they don’t want to actually harm Purpled, so they focus on defending more than not so they can take him down easily later and not possibly injure him. A few times messing up their own attacks and almost getting hit stopping their own blade from coming down too hard.

They jump back from the clashes, being followed quickly by Purpled, for a second their vision flashes and it’s another faceless person raising a sword over them to drive it through them and they don’t wanna be here-

They are behind Purpled now, making a swift motion to push him to the floor and place a foot on his stomach when he flips over, pointing the sword at his face, panting hard behind their mask.

Everything feels a little distant and fuzzy, they can hear Tubbo and Tommy’s cheers but it sounds oh so distant.

They put away the sword as they step off of the boy under them, helping Purpled up with stilted, stiff motions.

They look over at Tommy and Tubbo cheering, surprised in a distant, empty way to see Techno next to them, leaning on the fence.

Tommy walks over and claps them on the shoulder, rambling happily about how fast they are, but none of the words really process correctly.

They are aware that they thank Tommy as they wring their hands, looking down and being surprised to see the red on the white parts of their clothing.

They rub the fingers of their white-gloved hand together, it is not wet, and not dark enough to be dry or flaking, so it's not real.

That’s more worrying than if there was actual blood, at least they are aware that blood is real and that they actually did something, did they hurt someone and didn’t know? They hurt a lot of faceless people they don’t remember, but they would really not like to hurt anyone here.

They flinch as they feel a hand, though much gentler than Tommy’s, touch their shoulder, letting out a small whimper they can’t manage to swallow.

“Are you okay kid?” Someone asks, they don’t know who, it’s all just fuzzy and static, is this even real? Is this touch real? Is the essempi even real or are they still dying out in the rain hallucinating this ever happening.

“I need a minute,” They choke out, shrugging off the hand and walking with only slightly stumbled, quick steps out of the arena.

They can’t tell if anyone follows them or not and can’t bring themself to care, wrapping their arms around themself and squeezing. They can’t tell if the pressure only adds to the uncomfortable static around them or is comforting.

They don’t know how long they walk, whether it was for a short time or a long time, but eventually they slump next to lifelessly on one of the huge trees that decorate the land, there are multiple, they never questioned it.

They curl up on themself, they do not cry, and their breath is not shallow, they are not panicking. That’s almost the worrying part, they just feel hollowed out, like if someone cut them open there would be nothing in there but ash and dust.

They think they should be able to feel the ground, the bark against their back, but they can’t, maybe they’re imagining this, maybe Purpled killed them when the sword came down, maybe they won’t respawn, that’d be nice.

“Hello?” Someone says and they jolt, the sudden rush of adrenaline feels both bad and nice but very quickly washes away into nothing,

They look up, blinking to try to clear the static from their vision.

The person has a strange accent, it’s the person that Sam talks about, bonk, pink, Ponk? Yes, Ponk. His normal mask is hiding his face, though Ranboo imagines he looks concerned.

“Are you real?” Ranboo asks before they can think of doing otherwise, they don’t care much to worry about it, it’s a 50/50 that he’s fake anyways,

“I think so?” Ponk answers, pinching his own arm and wincing slightly, “Yeah, I think so,”

“Oh, okay,” Ranboo says softly, not really believing him but not caring much anyways, not the worse thing to hallucinate,

“Are you okay?” Ponk asks, sounding genuinely concerned, crouching in front of him so that they can look at eachother easier,

“,,,No,” They answer honestly, staring blankly at the man in front of them, “No, definitely not,”

“Oh,” Ponk says, not really expecting the honesty, “Can I help?”

“I don’t think so,” Ranboo says, avoiding eye contact with the older man,

Ponk takes in a short breath, “Okay,” He says, Ranboo can’t discern what sort of emotion is in it, “Do you want to come in?”

“What?” Ranboo asks, there is nowhere really nearby, where would they go into,

“You’re leaning on my lemon tree, it’s hollow on the inside,” Ponk explains, “Do you want to come in?”

“Oh, sure,” They answer, more on instinct than actually processing the question. They push themself up, though it doesn’t help the fuzz in their brain, and follow Ponk inside.

The inside of the tree doesn’t have much honestly, though they don’t really process much of it anyways.

They look over at Ponk, they’re pretty sure he’s saying something, but it’s all just gibberish no matter how hard they try to cling to the words,

Apparently Ponk notices, they probably will feel bad for how difficult they’re being later, for being unable to do the simple action of listening, but currently they are too focused on the emptiness to care.

Ponk walks off up to the top after saying, something? and they slump down against the wall, sliding down it until they’re curled in their little ball again, rocking softly, just to add something to the bleakness of the world around them.

They sit there for,,, some time, they don’t know how long, it feels like a mix of a second and hours, 

They are only vaguely aware when they hear footsteps again, but when they look up and Ponk’s in front of them they think that something must have happened in between,

Skipping, memory jumping like a broken record player, it’s usual for them, it’s what their ‘blanking’ comes from, the skips get larger and larger, they wonder if one day they’ll go into one to never come back out.

“-nboo can you hear me?” Ponk says, voice sounding strangely muffled even through the mask, and Ranboo thinks they nod, but they can’t even feel where their limbs are at this point,

“That’s good, can you see me?” He asks, and Ranboo thinks it’s a strange question but nods after a moment anyways, staring at the man as he crouches down in front of them.

“Good, I’m going to hold something out to you, okay?” Ponk says, only moving once Ranboo nods again, holding out a yellow object? In front of him.

“Can you tell me what this is?” Ponk asks, and they squint as they process the object, it’s circularish, more long, but the longer they look the more it is just fuzzy staticky shapes,

“Ranboo, stay with me, do you know what this is?” Ponk asks again, snapping once with his free hand to jerk them back to reality,

They blink at the object, staring at the, lemon? In Ponk’s hand,

“It’s a lemon,” They mumble, much quieter than they wanted to, but Ponk nods anyways,

“Yes, it’s a lemon from my tree, which you’re in right now,” Ponk specifies, “I’m gonna use it to help, alright?”

Help? Help with what? Ranboo was fine, they don’t feel anxious, what is he helping with?

Ponk sits criss-cross across from them, doing something with the yellow thing (a lemon, it was a lemon).

The smell of citrus hits them and they get confused for a second, why was there the smell of citrus?

“Ranboo?” Ponk says, his voice fading in, “Can you hear me still?”

They blink, taking a few seconds to register the question and nodding weakly.

“Okay, can you hear anything else?” He asks,

Ranboo blinks, closing their eyes briefly to focus on listening,

“Leaves?” They say, their voice oh so distant in their mind, “and wind,”

“Okay, good!” Ponk says, “Focus on those things,”

Focus on what? Oh yeah, the noise, the sounds. It is shockingly silent, they guess they got used to everyone being pretty loud all the time.

“Can you still see the lemon?” Ponk asks after a moment, holding out the, now partially peeled, lemon, looking at it is strange,

They nod, “It’s yellow,” They state, it's the only thing that comes to mind about it.

“It is!” Ponk affirms, “Can you see anything else in the room?”

“You,” Ranboo says, Ponk is a bit more in focus when they say it, affirming his existence more, they look around the room, “Chests, I think? The floor,”

“Yeah, those are good!” Ponk encourages, “Can you hold out your hand for me? I am going to put the lemon in your hand,”

They nod, but trying to move their arm just makes it twitch next to painfully and they wince slightly,

“Um,” Ponk says, noticing their struggle, “Can I touch your arm so I can move it for you?”

They nod, just working on relaxing their grip around their legs as Ponk very gently grabs their arm and untangles it from around one of their legs, setting a piece of the lemon in it.

“There,” Ponk says, “You can feel the lemon, right?”

They nod, staring at where it is in their hand, bright against the darkness of their glove.

“Okay, can you feel anything else?”

“You, when you touched me,” They say, talking minutely easier than it was before, “The floor, the wall,”

“Yes!” Ponk encourages, “Okay, do you wanna try to eat the lemon?”

“Huh?” They ask softly, staring at the piece in the palm of their hand,

“Do you want to try to eat it?” Ponk asks, a bit slower, “It’s grounding,”

They nod slowly but don’t move, just staring at it,

“Okay, can you lift the piece to your mouth?” Ponk asks slowly,

They nod, managing to lift the piece to their mouth but just bumping it against their mask,

“Oh,” They say, sounding disappointed as they drop their hand again,

“Oh, yeah, shit,” Ponk says, chucking a bit nervously, “Can you take off your mask first?”

They lift their other hand to try, but just end up kinda scrabbling at their cheek, scratching it vaguely through their gloved hand.

“Can I touch you?” Ponk asks after a moment, and they nod, dropping their hand again.

Ponk very carefully pulls the strap of their mask off of their ear, leaving it to dangle from the other one.

“There,” He says, “Can you try to eat the lemon piece again?”

Oh right, the lemon piece, they forgot about that,

They focus a bit on the light weight of it again, twitching their fingers on that hand, it feels strange to move (they can’t have been still for that long)

They lift their palm again and put the piece to their lips, biting down on it.

The sour taste makes them cringe violently, yanking the (unbitted) part out of their mouth and dropping it on the floor, flapping their hands uncomfortably in front of them.

“Oh, are you back?” Ponk asks, not seeming bothered by the weird hand flapping, more concerned looking than anything,

“Y-yeah,” They stutter, still cringing from the sour taste of the lemon, “Sorry,”

“It’s fine, you were disassociating really badly,” Ponk states, shrugging, “Also I got to feed you a lemon, it was kinda funny,”

Ranboo glares but can’t force themself to have any malice in the look, much too tired, “It was gross, you made me eat a peeled lemon, that’s an affront to everything,”

“Hey, otherwise you would have bitten into the peel, that would’ve been worse!” Ponk defends, laughing softly, “Usually you’re supposed to use an orange for that grounding technique, but I didn’t wanna have to go back to the house and chose to use the superior fruit,”

“How did you even get a lemon tree?” Ranboo asks, staring at the lemon missing a piece that Ponk holds, “I thought that was only modded, you have to buy just normal lemons otherwise,”

“Magic,” Ponk explains, picking up one of the pieces and putting it in his mouth under the mask,

Ranboo makes a fake gagging noise, earning muffled laughter from Ponk as he tries not to choke on the piece of lemon.

Ponk manages to stop himself from choking, taking in a deep breath and Ranboo cringes slightly as they feel the mood get serious again.

“You have anxiety issues, right?” Ponk asks, keeping his voice calm and friendly, “You don’t have to say, I’m just asking,”

“Uh, yeah, pretty, uh, pretty severe ones,” Ranboo says, wringing his hands nervously in front of them.

“You should talk to Puffy, she’s way better at this stuff than me, she has a therapy degree, I’m not saying you should go to her for therapy, but like, she has friends and stuff,” Ponk says, sounding casual with such a serious topic,

They nod, “I’ll think about it,” They whisper, mostly to themself,

Falling asleep is easy after a tiring day, that doesn’t mean they rest easy though.

They fall quickly into twisting nightmares of their own laughter as they light tnt above someone's bed on bedwards, falling onto them and exploding them, blood splattering across the floor in a gory mess.

It shifts into one of the first times they died in a skywars match, the person is faceless in their memory but they remember the way their own multicolored blood stained the shiny blade as it slashed across their chest, being shoved to the floor and stabbed through, left to bleed out.

Usually, sadistic kills aren’t what people aim for on Hypixel, too busy trying to win, they just got unlucky.

A woman finds them bleeding out on the floor, gagging on their own blood, and brings mercy on them, picking them up and dropping them off the island into the endless void below.

The pain of dissolving into it isn’t the same as normal pain, it hurts, but it is calming once you get over the feeling of falling.

The fall transfers into them falling from the glass cage into another Skywars match, running down to grab the items from their chest, as they are digging through it a sharp pain goes through their chest and they look down to find a sword stabbing through it, screaming in pain as it is dragged back out and they are pushed to the floor.

“Come on Ranboo, it’s not real,” A voice says and they whimper, it feels so real though,

“Ranboo, come on, wake up,”

There is a snap and they sit up into the panic room, XD sitting across from them as usual. The anxiety from their nightmare fades next to instantly, it almost feels weird.

“Morning, well, night,” XD greets, and Ranboo blinks as they notice that XD has enderpearl in his lap, the other two cats sprawled on top of their legs.

“Hi,” They reply, reaching out to pet dream Jjjjjjjjeffrey, “I’m guessing this is gonna be a normal thing now,”

“Usually,” XD states with a shrug, “Unless you’re incredibly tired or respawn,”

“Great,” They say sarcastically, “And every time you’re gonna be here?”

“Unless you don’t want me to, but you don’t like to be alone,” XD states, “You didn’t have a good day,”

“No,” They respond, even though they don’t need to, “I got all freaked out over nothing and ended up messing up Ponk's day with it too,”

“He didn’t mind, he told you that,” XD replies, “You were having a trauma response,”

“That doesn’t mean it isn’t stupid,” They grumble, glaring at the obsidian like it killed their family, “It wasn’t even that bad, I could’ve left,”

“Could you?” XD asks, “Even if theoretically you could’ve just gone to a private world, you felt like your only choice was to stay.”

“I still chose to,” Ranboo argues, “If I was going to be such a baby about a few fights I should’ve just left,”

“You did leave,” XD says, “That’s how you’re here now,”

They pause, blinking, “Is it?” They ask uncertainly, staring at the man's mask like it will grant him answers,

He tilts his head, “Yes, you know this, you remember,”

“No I don’t,” They insist, “I have short term memory loss, I don’t- I don’t know what happened,”

XD hums, “You were hurt and needed help, so you teleported here, to your soulmates,”

“Okay, you’re definitely insane,” Ranboo says, only a tinge hysterically, “I can’t teleport a-and they're not-” They cut off there, unable to finish, 

“You did earlier!” XD argues, “In the fight with Purpled, and anyways, if I am insane, and you think I’m a creation of your mind or something, doesn’t that make you insane.”

“OBVIOUSLY!” Ranboo yells back, throwing their arms up, “For being part of my brain you don’t seem to know much about me!”

“Because I’m not! I’m literally not you!”

“Then prove it!”

XD pauses, tilting his head like he’s thinking if something is a good idea or not,

“You will get proof soon enough,” XD says cryptically,

They sigh, “You really are bad at giving information,” They say, blinking as the world starts to blur and shift.

“Oh, already? Man, you need to start sleeping deeper,” XD says, “You’re waking up,”

They try to say something back but it comes out too slurred, their vision darkening and lightening at the same time, across two ‘worlds’, it is incredibly disorientating.

They sit up, looking around to a dark room, clearly still night, the sound of rain pattering loudly against their window makes them whimper against their will.

Well, fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really just an excuse to write Ponk because not enough people do and he's really difficult to write? but so fun, kind chaos gremlin.
> 
> Writing their fighting styles was fun, I decided that while I love Ranboo that is just incredibly strong, I feel like them being able to tell their enemies moves and using that to fight them made more sense? 
> 
> Purpled's fighting style was just based on his bedwars technique of 'hit it until it dies', Tommy was just kinda made up because I thought it fit him, and Tubbo's was based on his hybrid smp shulker origin!


	17. Overloaded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo after their nightmares (and another dream with XD) joins Insomnia Club.
> 
> The next day is just a bit too much for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor TW for sensory overload, minor ableism towards themself (calling themself weird/questioning why they can't just be normal and deal with things), and accidental misgendering since a large portion takes place from Puffy's POV!
> 
> Also did you know that Puffy is apparently canonically taller than Ranboo??? Because I learned this just before I wrote this chapter.

They’re curled up in a ball, their blankets dragged up around them and hands over their ears, unable to block out the sound of rain.

All the anxiety from their nightmare that wasn’t present in the panic room feels VERY present now, leaving them trembling and scrabbling clawed hands over where phantom injuries lie, only just careful enough not to actually scratch through the skin.

They carefully try to keep their breathing steady, as close to four-four-four as they can, but even counting to four is a bit difficult at the moment.

When they get minutely less panicked they stand up, wrapping one of their thinner, smaller blankets around their shoulders like a shawl, slipping out their room as quietly as possible and walking down the stairs, hoping to get a glass of water or something from the kitchen.

They hear soft conversation and narrow their eyes slightly in confusion as they peak into the dining room.

A few people are sitting at the table, out of their usual places and more clustered together at one end, talking in lowered tones, Wilbur notices them at the doorway and looks up at them, taking a sip from his mug of, whatever it is.

“Couldn’t sleep?” He asks, earning a small nod from Ranboo, “There’s hot chocolate on the furnace, go get yourself a cup and come sit down,”

Ranboo nods, listening to the command and walking into the kitchen. It smells like chocolate and is incredibly calming compared to the smell of rain that makes them absolutely terrified.

They grab a mug from a cabinet and pour the hot chocolate into it, careful not to pour it all over their hands which are still a bit shaky with anxiety. After a moment of thought they grab two marshmallows from the bag on the counter and put them in, walking out back into the dining room.

They study who is actually there, now more aware of their surroundings. Wilbur of course, with Techno and Tommy.  
“So, why are you up so late, er,” Wilbur looks up at the clock, reading 3:52 AM, “Early,”

“Nightmares,” Ranboo explained simply, choosing to not speak about XD, they didn’t want everyone thinking they’re insane already, “How about you all?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Wilbur says with a shrug,

“Nightmares as well,” Tommy says, his hot chocolate has a pile of whipped cream and marshmallows on top that Ranboo is surprised he managed to balance,

“Sleep is for the weak,” Techno mutters, skimming through the book he’s holding,

“Well, welcome to insomnia club Ranboo, the hot chocolate is free,” Wilbur states, patting them gently on the arm,

“Is this something you do often?” Ranboo asks, shifting their gaze between the three,

Wilbur shrugs, “Not us specifically, it is just a general household thing when you can’t sleep,” 

“We’re sleeping bois inc though, when Phil’s here,” Tommy states, his voice is lower and calmer with tiredness, like when they listen to the discs together, “we were the originals, bitch,”

“Hey, Tubbo is sometimes included,” Wilbur argues softly,

“And Tubbo,” Tommy adds, Ranboo catches the tug of a smile from the mention of him, cute, “Sometimes,”

Ranboo, quite resolutely, ignores the dark green outlines around his middle that start tingling slightly in pain, almost like the feeling when you move a limb that falls asleep. Yep, that definitely is NOT happening.

“You wanna talk about your nightmares?” Tommy asks after a few moments of silence, looking up at them tentatively but avoiding their eyes, something they are grateful for as they don’t have their glasses on currently,

“Not- not really?” They respond, voice a bit strained, “It’s just- Kinda, it’s just kinda dumb,”

Tommy frowns, “I could tell you about mine, if you want, not that you need to listen, they’re kinda stupid as well, it just helps to hear others, sometimes,” He says, rambling a little at the end,

“Go ahead,” Ranboo says, honestly they’ve always been a better listener than talker, and spending so much time talking about themself recently makes them feel a bit selfish.

Tommy cradles his mug in his hands, staring down at the liquid instead of at Ranboo, “Uh, it was a nightmare of this time I got lost in the antarctic, they couldn’t find me for a few weeks and by the time they did I had pretty bad frostbite,” Tommy laughs, the sound weak, “They had to chop off my leg, they managed to save everything else with magma cream,”

Ranboo blinks, “You lost a leg?” They ask, wondering how they managed to not notice the entire time,

Tommy perks up, only partially faked, “Hell yeah, lost it like a big man, got a cool ass prosthetic from Sam,” He says, pulling one of his legs up and showing off the metal,

“How did I never realize you’re missing a limb,” Ranboo whispers to themself, eyes wide as they stare at the metal, they’ve seen plenty of prosthetics (if a chop through a limb is clean enough, sometimes you’ll respawn without one, so they were pretty common on Hypixel), this one is clearly well made, working just as well as a normal leg if not better.

Wilbur and Techno share slightly pained expressions, Wilbur’s much clearer. The guilt of their little brother losing a limb because they weren’t there never really goes away, no matter how many times Tommy says it’s fine.

“It’s real cool innit? It feels real strange, because sometimes my brain still thinks it’s there so it’ll make up feelings n’ shit, not really fun when it’s painful though,” Tommy rambles, smiling widely,

“That’s so cool,” Ranboo says, “Is it hard to walk with?”

“Was, I got used to it,” Tommy says, “I had to use crutches for a while but y’know, too slow for big man Tommyinnit,”

“Of course,” Ranboo replies, smiling fondly, 

“Wanna talk about your nightmare now?” Tommy asks, picking up one of the marshmallows from the top of his hot chocolate and popping it in his mouth,

“Uh, I can, if you want?” Ranboo says, “It’s not like, that big of a deal though,”

“Ranboo it is 4 am now, I am pretty sure the nightmare must’ve been pretty bad if you are down here staying up instead of sleeping,” Wilbur says, giving Ranboo an unimpressed look.

Ranboo wilts slightly under the gaze, “It was just, um, Hypixel, like, different matches and things,” They explain, having to set their mug down to wring their hands, let out a bit of the anxiety,

Techno raises an eyebrow, much more visible without his normal pig mask, “What happened in ‘em?” He asks, 

“Just normal Hypixel stuff, um,” They pause, trying to bring back what specifically the nightmares were about, “A bedwars game, uh, lighting the tnt above a bed and letting it drop, it exploded like half of the team, there was blood everywhere. And uh, my first match, I was stabbed and left to bleed out, y’know, one of the players more in it for blood,” They chuckle humorlessly, staring down at their multicolored hands blankly.

“Shit man, I’m sorry,” Tommy apologizes, wincing slightly, “I shouldn’t’ve pushed you to talk about it,”

“It’s fine,” Ranboo says, shrugging and trying to hide the slight tremble in their fingers, “It wasn’t really that bad,”

Tommy frowns, “Dude you’re currently downstairs, awake, at 4 am because of it, I think it’s a bit more serious than you’re letting on.”

Ranboo’s gaze drops again, staring down at their mostly empty hot chocolate, “Can we stop talking about this?” They ask softly,

Tommy doesn’t look like he wants to but nods, going back to drinking his now cool enough to chug hot chocolate.

“You two should get to bed, get the last few hours you can,” Wilbur states, standing up with his own empty mug,

“Can we listen to Mellohi first?” Tommy asks, receiving a nod from Wilbur and cheering quietly.

Ranboo puts away their mug and follows Tommy to the living room, instead of their usual corner they both sit together on one of the smaller seats near to the jukebox, Ranboo’s hand combing through Tommy’s slightly knotted golden locks,

“At this point I should stop buying brushes, just have you do it,” Tommy mumbles, leaning against Ranboo’s shoulder,

Ranboo chuckles lightly, “Yeah, but then I’d have to get through bigger ones too and I don’t wanna hurt you,”

“You can’t hurt me, I’m big man tommyinnit, i’m-” Tommy yawns, leaning further against Ranboo, “invinsible,”

“Sure,” Ranboo says, watching Tommy slowly drift off, “of course big man,”

Ranboo wakes up the next morning under a blanket that definitely wasn’t there the night before on the same chair, Tommy leaning against them and their arm completely numb from it.

They carefully extract themself from Tommy’s side, laying him down on the couch and pulling the blanket over him.

He looks at the clock on the wall, squinting slightly to read it, 10:50 AM, later than they usually wake up.

They sigh softly and walk up the stairs, they can hear everyone talking (probably over breakfast) but decide that getting ready is a bit more important than joining immediately.

They walk into their room and smile when they see their cats laid on the bed together, all curled up.

They walk over to their closet and grab some clothing, changing into it out of their sleepwear. They remember that Tommy, Will, AND Techno all saw them in it and wince a little, being out of their normal clothing in front of people is a bit uncomfortable, it’s like when they accidentally fidget weirdly in front of others or repeat noises.

They much prefer when they can act normal and dress in their a-bit-too-fancy clothing and people don’t question them. Being weird receives questions, more than the normal questions about them being a hybrid or being too tall or the other weird things that they can’t hide.

They grab their mask, gloves, and glasses, they reach for their crown but falter, they want the weight and pressure of it but it’s a Hypixel crown and it makes the memory of their nightmares come back full force.

They carefully go to where they keep the flower crowns that Tubbo and Tommy make them and look through them. They choose one with flowers in red and green and set it on their head delicately, it is lighter than the Hypixel crown, but it will work so they don’t have to use that one.

They walk downstairs and into the dining room, a bit surprised to see Tommy half-asleep at his seat, head laying on his arms while Tubbo laughs at him,

Tommy lifts his head just a bit to say a small, “g’morning,” before dropping back into his arms, causing Tubbo to laugh harder at him.

Ranboo smiles slightly at the action, going to their normal seat next to Niki. There are plates set out on the table full of food, hashbrowns, muffins (that were definitely made by Bad), french toast, bacon, and assorted other things.

They put some on their own plate (making sure to take a muffin before they are completely gone) and eat slowly, watching the others talk with each other.

Usually people watching is kinda fun, probably an enderman trait of some sort, just watching others interact, but currently it’s a bit much, the noises grate uncomfortably on their senses and they’re left instead of leaning into them like usual, desperately trying to ignore the people and the noises.

They eat quicker after that, a bit desperate to get away from everyone and somewhere quiet, going and scraping and cleaning off their plate after. Being in the kitchen still definitely isn’t quiet, barely a room over, but the distance helps them feel like they’re able to breathe again.

They walk quickly through the dining room again to leave, they are unable to stop the small flinch from hearing the sound of silverware dragging across a plate, the sound physically painful, if they weren’t so used to hiding it they’d probably have cried from it,

They leave the house quietly, hoping for once that no one would take them to do something, they don’t particularly want to be alone, but people are loud and especially most of the people here are, if someone screams next to them they’re pretty sure they’ll cry,

They fidget uncomfortably with their hands as they walk quickly away from the house, every few seconds trying to stop themself and instead finding a place to put them, their pockets, curled around themself, but always end up fidgeting with them again, staying still feeling viscerally uncomfortable,

It’s annoying that they just can’t keep their hands still, that they can’t just act normal and interact with others, instead they’re out here alone because every noise is too much and the light from the sun hurts even through their glasses, the sound of their footsteps even hurts.

They let out a small distressed enderman chirp, barely hearable even to themself, the sound is calming though and they repeat it. They are so used to hiding them that it feels a bit weird to make the noise, but comforting.

“Ranboo?” Someone says and they almost scream, the noise is too much and breaks them out of calming themself down,

Instead they choke down everything and stop making noises and turn around, seeing Puffy standing there, looking a tad worried,

“Y-yes?” They say, voice shaking much more than they want it to,

“Are you okay? I heard distressed enderman noises and thought one was trapped or something, and I found you,”

“I’m fine!” They reassure, forcing their voice to sound casual, “Perfect! Completely okay!”

Puffy raises an unimpressed eyebrow, crossing her arms, “Oh really?”

“Y-yeah! Great actually,” They respond, hands trembling slightly with the exertion it takes to stop their hands from moving,

Puffy opens her mouth to say something but pauses, eyes widening and reaching out quickly, grabbing their arm and shoving them behind her, “CREEPER!”

They yelp at the feeling of someone touching them, tumbling slightly to the floor as Puffy raises her shield to protect her from the blast.

They cry out in pain at the noise, god the explosion is so loud they just wanted to calm down why is everything so loud they can still feel her touch on their arm and ohgoditissoloudwhyiseverythingsoloudthereiswaternearbytheycanhearitandtheexplosionsitllringsintheirbrainitssolouditssolouditssoloud.

“Ranboo?” Puffy asks, voice lowered, a worried look on her face as she stares down at the hybrid,

Ranboo lets out a sob, curling in on themself, balling their hands into fists and smacking them against the sides of their head like it could fight away the pain that just won’t stop, it’s too much, it’s always too much.

“It’s so loud,” They sob, tears going down their cheeks, mind-numbingly painful to the point that they are unable to even scream from them,

Puffy allows herself 5 seconds to panic before helping the sobbing teenager, his own tears burning his face and definitely not helping the clear sensory overload.

She counts backwards from 5, steadying her breath, before getting to work, kneeling very slowly and very softly next to Ranboo, who has moved from hitting himself and now has his arms shielding over his ears.

“Hey,” She whispers oh so gently and hears Ranboo whimper in response, “I know, it is very loud, I can bring you inside and it will be quiet and dark in there,”

Ranboo makes a distressed vrrp but nods, hard to see with how he’s curled up,

“Touch is probably a lot right now, but I can carry you if you want, since you don’t look like you can move much,”

Ranboo nods again, with shaky, stiff movements pulling his arms down from his head, 

Puffy reaches under him and picks him up, it is strangely easy, even though he is quite tall (not as tall as her though) he is incredibly skinny, less so than when he first arrived though.

He tucks his head into her shoulder, whimpering and making soft vrrps that make her heart hurt just a tiny bit,

She walks in careful steps to not trip or make too loud of a noise.

She manages to open the door to the house with one arm full of trembling ender-hybrid, 

There are a few people still in the house but most are in their rooms getting ready to go out, so she gladly doesn’t see anyone as she carefully carries Ranboo up to his room and sets him down on the bed, were he curls back up again.

The lights are already out so she simply pulls the blinds closed, darkening the room.

She walks over to Ranboo, who is curled up but noticeably less distressed, “I’m going to go grab some things, is anything else bothering you,”

“Loud, clothes are uncomfortable,” Ranboo mumbles, face tucked into his knees and muffling him slightly, “Itchy,”

“Okay, I’ll grab you something to change into and you can put them on while I grab the other things,” She says, walking over to his closet and finding some soft, more casual clothing easily (probably just used as pajamas)

“Are these okay?” She asks, holding them in front of Ranboo, he rubs a hand along the fabric to test it before nodding,

She sets them down and leaves the room as quietly as she can, sighing slightly in relief. She feels immensely bad for possibly worsening the sensory overload as he was clearly trying to cope with it before she approached him, but at least this way it won’t possibly get worse with him in the middle of a forest where mobs could get him.

She steels herself slightly again and walks up to her room, pulling out a box from under her bed.

She likes to keep them around for things like this, just boxes full of things for different scenarios, bad ADHD days, anxiety or panic attacks, dissociation, just helpful things.

It is mostly just so that when someone has one of those things she can run up and grab it quickly after a few times of having to scour her room (and the house) for them, and she lets people come up and grab them when needed. By this point she’s pretty much made one for each of the people who have them regularly, maybe she should make one for Ranboo.

This one has stuff for sensory overloads, along with some other things, noise blocking earmuffs, some fidget toys, a weighted blanket, and a pen and some paper in case they’re nonverbal.

After a moment of thinking she just takes the entire box, walking out of her room and a bit surprised when she sees Eret standing there,

“Oh, hi!” She says, “Do you need something?”

“Is Ranboo okay? I saw you walk in with him,” Eret asks, worry clear on their face,

“He’s fine, sensory overload, he is in his room right now and I’m bringing him some more stuff to help,” Puffy explains, shifting the weight of the box slightly so she can hold it easier,

Eret nods, “If you, or he, needs anything tell me, okay?” 

Puffy smiles, “Of course, thanks Eret,”

They smile back softly, walking to their own room as Puffy walks down the stairs to the medical room, grabbing a regeneration potion for the burns on Ranboo’s cheeks before walking to his room,

Ranboo is still curled on the bed but in different clothing, his cats curled up near him and one in his arms, purring against his chest.

“Hey,” She greets softly, “I have some noise mufflers, a weighted blanket, and fidgets in here, if you wanna use any,” She says, setting the box down next to them,

They nod, sitting up very slightly to look into the box,

“Do you want me to stay? Or I can get someone else to stay if you want,”

Ranboo shakes his head, grabbing a tangle from the box and laying back down, holding his cat a bit closer as he messes with the tangle with one hand,

She nods, “Okay, call or message on your com if you need anything,”

Ranboo snaps their fingers so she pauses, turning around, he grabs a piece of paper and one of the pens, writing down something onto it and handing it over,

She takes it softly, looking at the text that reads ‘Thank you :)’ and smiling,

“You’re welcome, Ranboo,” She says, “I’ll tell everyone to not bother you, if you don’t come down for dinner i’ll bring some up,”

He nods again, waving goodbye softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was very nice to write because hurt/comfort is fun.
> 
> Next one is gonna have Ranboo come out most likely! So I am excited for that :>


	18. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo finally has time to question himself, herself, themself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of possible transphobia or past transphobia but nothing very bad, also accidental misgendering that gets corrected.
> 
> Also not tw warning but the beginning of this is a bit difficult to read because of changing pronouns, that's meant to be there and it goes away after a bit.

Ranboo has never really had the time to question himself (themself?)

Well, he they had, they he spent most of their life questioning themself (herself?), memory loss and theirhis status as a hybrid and hishertheir abilities.

It left not much time to question other things though, too busy worrying about if she/he/they will be hunted down and killed or were they’ll get their next meal or if Niki will be okay,

So he never really got a chance to question if he or she or they were really a boy, it was just something she kinda accepted, of course he was a boy, that’s what everyone said so why would they question it?

When on their first day awake and Eret asks his pronouns, he doesn’t really get why answering he/him makes hertheirhistheirher skin crawl and puts their teeth on edge, like when she touches a fabric that just feels wrong or when he puts on too tight clothing, it didn’t fit.

He pushes that thought as far down in them as it can go, way too big of a change going on at the moment for them to question changing anything further. 

But now they’ve (she’s?) settled down a bit here, used to the schedule and the people and they (he) have time to question things.

They remember when they were small one time they took one of Niki’s skirts (with her permission, of course), the feeling of the swishy fabric and how they felt pretty in it,

The moment was ruined after they were yelled at by their mother, they didn’t touch the skirts again after that.

The confusion and questioning is probably was caused them to (very awkwardly) ask Eret what she was a week or two ago, he, she, they knew nonbinary people and identities existed, but it just felt like confirmation that she, he, they wouldn’t be alone if they possibly were not a boy,

Were they a boy? Thinking about it, it didn’t really fit, never did, they just accepted that it didn’t fit because they were weird like all the other parts of them, though its different than that weirdness.

The fidgeting and not knowing how social stuff works and being unable to tell how someone is feeling by how their face looks is weird, but it is theirs, it is a part of them, their dual-toned skin and hair is strange, but part of them. Not feeling like a boy is strange, but being a boy is definitely not part of them.

It’s frustrating, thinking about it, questioning, they hate having to solve questions without a defined answer alone, they much rather being told the answer even if it makes them look stupid, but she couldn’t go and ask someone what they were because then he’d just get the answer that he had told everyone before.

They never really got gender in the first place, they got what pronouns people used by listening to others speak of them (or being told by Eret, that was definitely helpful), they didn’t get the difference between how they wore clothing and hairstyles and how they spoke and walk would make them in two categories that seemed to change constantly, why were those things those ways? It never made sense.

They were just kinda left to accept it, they were good at running with rules that meant nothing, like not doing their enderman noises and making eye contact and morphing their face in different ways with different emotions and changing their tone to mean things,

Feeling wrong in their skin is just another part of being them, feeling like parts don’t fit, a deep discomfort that burrows into their marrow, it’s fine, it’s fine,

After soaking in the questioning and frustration for long enough they decide to talk to someone, someone who will probably get it, and set off to find Eret,

He (They?) find Eret, unsurprisingly, at her sheep farm, cooing softly at one of the pink sheep fondly,

“Hello,” He or They greets softly, not wanting to scare her on accident, he knows that he walks quietly,

Eret looks up, smiling at them, “Oh, hi Ranboo!” She says, standing up fully, “What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk,” Ranboo says, running his thumb over the grass of the block they’re holding, it is comforting,

Eret raises an eyebrow from behind her glasses and leaves the sheep pen, leaning up against the fence, “What about?” She asks,

“Um, I-,” He takes in a shaky breath, “I wanted to talk about gender?” He says, very aware of how awkward that sounds,

Eret’s eyes widen slightly from behind the shades but the rest of her expression stays the same, not wanting to accidentally frighten him (or them, or her), “Oh, are you questioning?”

Ranboo nods, looking down at the block in his hands instead of at Eret, “Just, thinking about it,” He says, laughing awkwardly after,

“Of course, I get it,” Eret says, smiling softly to assure them further, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know?” Ranboo says, confusion clear in his voice, “It feels weird, and confusing, I don’t get it,”

“Yeah, it’s confusing questioning yourself, it took me a while to understand my own identity,” Eret replies, careful with her phrasing, 

Ranboo nods, frowning, “I just don’t get it, I don’t feel like a boy but girl doesn’t really fit either and maybe it’s just because I’m weird like everything else is about me, I just don’t fit anywhere,”

Eret softens, “Hey, it’s not weird to question yourself, okay? Plenty of people don’t fit in either of those boxes,”

Ranboo frowns more but doesn’t argue against the point, instead sitting down in the grass, rubbing a hand over the top of the block in their hands. Eret after a moment chooses to sit down in front of them, 

“Everything’s so confusing all the time,” Ranboo complains softly, “I wish I could just know,”

“Yeah, it sucks,” Eret agrees, “Do you know what pronouns you would like to be used?”

Ranboo shakes his head, frowning,

“That’s okay, would you like me to try some out for you?” Eret asks patiently, smiling comfortingly,

He thinks for a minute before nodding, looking up curiously at Eret but not meeting her eyes,

“Okay, hm, Ranboo is my friend, he is very nice and kind and I care about him a lot, he is questioning himself right now and that’s okay,” Eret says, watching Ranboo carefully for reaction,

Ranboo frowns, cringing slightly, “I don’t like that,” They murmur, rocking slightly back and forth,

“Okay, how about,,, Ranboo is my friend, she is very nice and kind and I care about her a lot, she is questioning herself right now and that’s okay,” Eret says, 

Ranboo thinks for a moment before shaking their head, “It’s better, but it still doesn’t really fit,” They say softly, 

Eret nods, “Ranboo is my friend, they are very nice and kind and I care about them a lot, they are questioning themself right now and that’s okay,” Eret says, having to change the words around a little bit for grammar’s sake,

Ranboo pauses, it makes warmth bloom in their (theirtheirtheir) chest, it just feels right, a little click into place,

“I like those,” Ranboo breathes softly, a grin on their face,

“Good! So you use they/them?” Eret asks, unable to stop some of her own excitement, it’s not her fault, Ranboo’s happiness is infectious,

Ranboo nods, “I-I think I’m nonbinary too, I don’t really, fit, with boy or girl,” They admit, a nervous smile on their face,

“Okay, is your name still Ranboo?” Eret asks, “Or do you wanna try something else,”

“No, I’m still Ranboo,” They respond, “That still fits, I like it,”

Eret nods, “Do you want me to tell anyone? Or is this a secret until you’re ready, both are fine, I get it if you’re not ready to come out yet, it took me a while after I figured it out,”

“Um, if they ask I guess it’s fine? But like, I’d rather you not just bring it up,” Ranboo replies, “Don’t tell Niki, I wanna tell her myself,”

Eret nods again, smiling at them, “I’m proud of you for finding yourself, it definitely took me longer to accept myself,” She says, reaching out to ruffle their hair.

An outline of strawberry pink on their arm stings uncomfortably, they ignore it.

It takes them a day or two to prepare to tell Niki, they know she’ll respond fine to it, she has never been anything less than accepting to them, but it is still weird, such a big change (they guess it’s always been there, just quietly),

They decide that it’s like a bandage and they’ll just have to pull it off eventually, so they set off to find Niki one morning, an hour or two after breakfast,

It is not too difficult to find her, collecting flowers for some dyes, she is wearing the rainbow sweater that they like a lot, rolled up over her elbows so it doesn’t get dirty,

“Hi,” They greet softly, walking out from the forest into the flowery plains clearing she is standing in,

She looks up, a bit surprised by their sudden arrival, but smiles brightly at them, “Oh, Ranboo!” She says, “I wasn’t expecting you,”

“Haha yeah, sorry,” They apologize awkwardly, shuffling their feet slightly, “I had something I wanted to tell you,”

“Oh?” Niki replies, curiosity in her tone, urging them to continue,

They swallow, forcing the words out before they get stuck in their throat, “I-I’m nonbinary, I use they/them pronouns now,” They say in one quick breath, stuttering a bit from the speed, hands trembling at their sides,

Niki’s eyes widen slightly, looking up at them, “Oh,” She says, a bit dumbly, “Do you still go by Ranboo?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” They say, nervously smiling at her, they wish they remembered their mask, 

She nods slowly, “Would you like to be called my brother or my sibling?” She asks patiently, in the same tone she uses when they’re very anxious or hurt, fitting, as they are very anxious currently,

“Either are fine, I guess, I don’t mind either,” Ranboo says, shrugging their shoulders slightly, 

Niki nods and smiles at them gently, “Okay, thank you for telling me,” She says, sincerity in her tone,

They blink a bit in surprise, “Oh, yeah, of course, I thought I should tell you uh, before I tell others, you know, since we’re, siblings,” They say, trailing off slowly in their rambling,

She nods, giggling softly at their awkwardness, “Does anyone else know?”

“Um, Eret, I asked her about it and it made me realize, you’re the second, though,” Ranboo answers, looking a bit guilty for not telling her first,

She nods, not looking angry at all, “Thank you, really, for telling me Ranboo, I’m glad you trusted me,”

They nod again, smiling at her, awkwardly but painfully sincere, “You’re welcome,”

Trying to find out how to tell everyone else is harder, the idea of doing it with everyone makes anxiety thrum in their chest so quickly they have to go pick up a grass block to fight it back, but they don’t particularly feel comfortable telling everyone one-on-one, they haven’t even talked to most of the people here alone since they first met them, so it’d be incredibly awkward,

There are people that they think deserve to be told personally, Tubbo, Tommy, Fundy, Sam, maybe Wilbur or Techno, so they focus on those instead.

Tubbo and Tommy are in the flower field when they approach, talking and laughing amongst themselves, bees floating around them

Tommy notices them before they speak, waving them over with a big grin, “Hey big man!”

They wave back softly, sitting down next to the two in the grass, running their hands through the blades of grass as the two teens go back to their talking, 

They wait for a dip in the conversation before they talk, not wanting to cut in, “Hey, can I, uh, tell you guys something?” They ask, nervously wringing their hands,

Both look up, a bit confused, but Tubbo nods slowly, “Yeah, of course big man,”

“Uh, about that, I’m not really a man?” They say, chuckling awkwardly, “Um, I’m nonbinary, they/them,”

“Oh that’s so fucking poggers!” Tommy says and Tubbo punches him in the shoulder, the yell accidentally scaring Ranboo, “Sorry, sorry,”

“So you use only they/them, like, they went to the park and stuff?” Tubbo asks, smiling kindly at them, “Oh, I should probably tell you because I’m pretty sure I never did, I use he/him or they/them, either are fine,”

They nod, “Yeah, just they/them, and um, neutral or masculine terms? I am still questioning that,” They say, tails swishing happily behind them in the grass,

Tommy nods seriously, processing the information, before pausing, “Wait, should we no longer call you big man?” He asks Ranboo, guilt in his voice at possibly misgendering them,

Ranboo laughs softly, “Tommy, you called Puffy big man literally this morning at breakfast, I don’t think it’s the most gendered term,”

Tommy goes red in the face as Tubbo and Ranboo laugh at him, yelling and cursing at them and only making them laugh harder.

They are on a mining trip with Fundy, a less competitive one thankfully, when they decide to come out to him,

It is a lot less planned than the others, admittedly, they had really no plans to tell him yet, they’re just chatting over coms, hundreds of blocks into a strip-mine when they decide it’s a better time than never,

“Uh, hey Fundy, can I tell you something?” They ask, trying to keep their voice from stuttering or sounding too weird,

“If it is how much more stuff you’re getting than me, no,” Fundy says sarcastically over the com, the sound of him breaking stone coming through it,

They laugh humorlessly, anxiety rising in them, “No, it’s uh, it’s something serious,” They say, they can hear Fundy pause, the sound of stone breaking stopping,

“Oh, uh, what is it?” Fundy asks, a twinge of nervousness in his tone,

“Um, I- I’m nonbinary, I use they/them pronouns now,” Ranboo admits, having to force their voice to not be so quiet it’s unhearable to the fox hybrid,

Fundy doesn’t respond for a few seconds, which only makes their anxiety grow, before saying, “Oh, uh, me too, not like, the nonbinary part, but I’m trans, still he/him, uh, I’m a trans boy,”

“Oh,” Ranboo responds dumbly, slumping on the wall of the cave a bit in relief, “Is it weird to say that like, makes sense? I wasn’t expecting it, it just, fits,”

Fundy laughs softly, “Uh, no, yeah, that’s how I feel about you too, I guess, didn’t expect it but it fits,” He says, Ranboo can hear the smile in his voice, “Uh, thanks for trusting me, y’know, I’m sorry for not telling you,”

“No, it’s fine, you shouldn’t be expected to tell me,” Ranboo says, “Thank you for trusting me too, Fundy,”

Fundy hums in acknowledgement and Ranboo can hear as he starts mining again, “Now get back to work or I’m gonna beat you this time,” He threatens, grin in his voice,

Ranboo laughs and gets back to work quickly, they’re not competing for anything this time, but they have quite a few more wins than Fundy for their ‘friendly competitions’ and plan to keep it that way,

“In your dreams,”

Working on whatever redstone contraption that Sam decides is necessary is something they’re pretty used to at this point, while they are quite tall, they are smaller than Sam and thinner, and listen to instruction well, so they end up helping quite a bit,

After the incident after dueling with Ponk, he visits him and Sam while they work sometimes, with lemonade a few of them, which they think is a bit funny even though it’s very kind, 

They are working on placing down redstone wirings, they don’t really know what this machine does, Sam explained it a few times but they never got it and he just told them they’d see when it was finished, so they’re just going with it,

Sam was taking a break outside of the stuffy, hot room were the wirings laid, the torches and wires made it warm in a way that was uncomfortable and stuffy, if Ranboo wasn’t naturally cold due to their enderman half they’d probably also be taking a break but they wanted to continue,

They hear them talking over the com in their ear, even with how socially inept they are they can tell the two are head over heels for each other and it’s a bit cute, though they don’t say it,

“Yeah, Ranboo is really good, **he’s** been helping me for the past few weeks now-” Sam says but it all fuzzes off after that, because they’re not a he, not a he, they’re a they they’re a they, they they they,

“They,” They correct before they can stop themself, voice slightly choked, and pause, anxiety hitting them as they realize they corrected Sam out loud, they didn’t mean to do that, oh no-

“Oh sorry, they’ve been helping me for the past few weeks now,” Sam corrects quickly, not sounding angry in the slightest, “It’s made things go a lot faster for my projects, usually only Tommy would help and he just makes things go slower, not that I mind,”

They zone out of the conversation again after that, letting out an anxious breath and muting their com, sitting down on the floor, careful not to ruin some of the wiring,

They pull down their mask with redstone dust-stained fingers, probably smearing some on their face, they don’t really care, more focused on keeping themself breathing,

After an amount of time they can’t really follow they hear Sam enter again, pausing before walking over with careful footsteps,

“Hey Ranboo, are you okay?” He asks, voice soft, crouching in front of them so they can see him easier,

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for correcting you, it was dumb, I’m sorry,” They apologize quickly, breath wheezing slightly, 

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not mad at you, you use they/them pronouns, right?” He asks, grabbing one of Ranboo’s hands and rubbing soothing circles over their knuckles with his thumb,

They nod, “I-I’m nonbinary, I use they/them, Ranboo’s still my name, though,” They specify, voice a bit shaky from anxiety but calming down slowly,

“Okay, that’s okay, I’m not mad, thank you for telling me,” Sam soothes, “How about we finish up for today, okay? We can go back to the house and we can have Phil make you some hot chocolate and you can cuddle up with your cats,”

They nod in agreement, slowly standing with the help of Sam, who wraps a supportive arm around their shoulder so they can lean on him,

“Th-thank you for accepting me,” They say, voice quiet, almost a murmur,

“Of course, it’s just basic decency,” Sam says, “Now come on, let’s get home,”

They don’t really know why they, of all people, were sent with Phil, Wilbur, and Techno to go shopping.

Of course, most of the things they need can be grown or grinded for on the server, but some things still need to be bought since they’re on a vanilla server (besides Ponk’s unexplainable lemon trees) so they can’t just make them, 

They’re pretty sure it was something about getting them new clothing, since they have almost ruined quite a few pieces while doing redstone with Sam or mining with Fundy or grass stains from hanging out with Tubbo and Tommy, so maybe they should get some more casual wear,

After they get an almost comical amount of candy using money from Hypixel (they had quite a lot, they never spent much) , they drift over to the clothing section alone, grabbing a few things that catch their eye,

This is what ends in them staring longingly at a skirt they found, it is longer, though clearly meant for a human, so it’d probably only be a bit under their knees, it isn’t particularly exciting, a plain black of some fabric they don’t know but don’t mind the feeling of,

Maybe how boring it is is what gravitated them towards it compared to the bright pink of some of the other ones, though they can’t force themself to grab it, the thought making anxiety rise up into their chest uncomfortably,

“Oh, Ranboo, there you are, we lost you for a minute,” Wilbur says, coming to stand next to them, noticing what they’re staring at, “Oh, do you want it?”

Ranboo tries to answer but fails to, their mouth just opening a few times without any noise coming out, before they make a quiet, distinctly enderman-like whimper, “I don’t know,”

Wilbur pauses, seemingly noticing their slight distress, he hears Phil and Techno also approach the both of them but ignores it, instead choosing to comfort the teenager, “It’s okay if you want to wear a skirt, Ranboo, boys can wear skirts,”

This doesn’t help as much as Wilbur wanted it too, Ranboo curling in on themself a bit more, “I’m not a boy,” They murmur softly, avoiding even looking in Wilbur’s direction,

Wilbur blinks, not expecting that, “Oh, okay,” He says, “That's okay, so are you a girl? Or-”

“Nonbinary, uh, they/them,” Ranboo says softly, fidgeting with their hands,

Wilbur nods slowly, “Okay, that’s okay Ranboo,” He pauses briefly, “Do you want the skirt?”

They nod but don’t reach out to grab it so Wilbur does, carefully folding it in his arm, “Come on, let’s go to Phil and Techno, do you want me to tell them? Or-”

“Yeah, please,” Ranboo says, following Wilbur to the two that aren’t too far away, Wilbur thinks they heard them having a semi-serious conversation and chose to not impede on that, gladly since he’s pretty sure Ranboo would’ve had an anxiety attack,

Neither question the skirt, Wilbur owns a few (he just doesn’t wear them so he doesn’t ruin them), so there's no real reason to question it, he waits until there is a time Ranboo is away from them again to tell the other two,

“ Ranboo told me that they’re nonbinary, so they use they/them pronouns now,” He says, not scared that either won’t be accepting, Techno and Fundy are both transmasc and Tubbo is a nonbinary boy, along with other assorted trans or not-straight members of their little server, he is not worried about their supportiveness at all.

Philza nods while Techno, who is turned away looking through golden jewelry, hums to acknowledge it, “Is that what you two were talkin’ about?” He asks, Wilbur can tell he’s more focused on the conversation than he’s letting on,

“Yeah, they were looking at a skirt and nervous about getting it, I told them it was fine because boys can wear skirts and they told me they weren’t a boy,” Wilbur says, recounting the events, “They asked me to tell you two, I don’t know who else they are out to yet,”

Both nod, but the conversation doesn’t continue as Ranboo comes back, thin pupils as wide as dinner plates as they hold an ugly as sin black hawaiian shirt with white flowers on it,

“If we don’t get this for me I’ll cry,” They threaten, holding the shirt to their chest next to protectively,

Philza laughs, none of them really expecting Ranboo ‘wears almost exclusively a suit’ Nihachu to want a hawaiian shirt, but their fashion choices are just full of surprises,

“Sure mate, we’ll get you the shirt,” Phil agrees, taking it to put it in the basket, Ranboo pumps their fist in the air, hissing a small ‘yesss’ that makes Phil and Wilbur laugh, and Wilbur doesn’t miss the small snort from Techno that he tries to hide.

Ranboo is pretty sure the rest learn mostly from others referring to them that way, either accidentally or on purpose.

A few ask, which leads to awkward conversations explaining that they’re nonbinary, but no one is anything less than accepting, which feels good.

It takes them a bit to get the confidence to wear the skirt they got, they’ve worn most of the other clothing and aren’t really avoiding any of it, but some part of them is still scared they’re gonna get yelled at and told to just act like a boy.

One morning, with a random surge of confidence they get once every blue moon, they put on the skirt, it fits comfortably, ending about mid-calf and swishing whenever they move.

They spend a few minutes just looking in the mirror, a grin on their face as they twirl back and forth, swishing the skirt.

It feels good, it feels right, some itch they didn’t know they had been scratched.

It feels solidifying, they’re not a boy and they’re not a girl and they’re comfortable like this, and they’re accepted.

The anxiety inducing part is actually going downstairs in it, standing in front of their door, fidgeting with their hands nervously as they try to gain the confidence to be seen by others in it,

Eret wears skirts all the time, or the strawberry dress that is infuriatingly pretty, they know that Wilbur has a few that he’s worn sparsely, mostly on days he won’t leave the house so it won’t be ruined.

But they’re still nervous, because it is still a change and there still might be a reaction and they don’t know if everyone actually knows yet.

They push it down eventually and leave their room, no one is there, of course, they don’t know why they expected anyone to be outside of their door, but the lack of people calms their nerves, somewhat.

They walk downstairs slowly, nervousness climbing again as they walk into the dining room, most of the others already sitting at the table eating,

They feel a few eyes look up at them and force themself to not freeze in place, instead looking down at the floorboards like its suddenly interesting,

“You look good big man!” Tubbo compliments, their grin obvious in their voice,

“Thank you,” Ranboo breathes softly, going to their seat, their anxiety slowly dissipating when no one says anything further,

They see Tubbo looking at them from across the table and look up, Tubbo grinning at them,

‘I’m proud of you’ Tubbo mouths, a huge smile on their face and they flush, ears lowering a bit in embarrassment, as they focus on their plate instead of the compliment.

Acceptance feels good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really nice to write, since it was mostly just me putting my own experience onto Ranboo.
> 
> Also I should probably put identities/pronouns on the explanatory chapter since I have quite a few headcanons here, but I am procrastinating it since it will take a while.


	19. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo learns stimming is normal and has a talk with dream XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter, but I felt like a chapter that is just XD and Ranboo talking was necessary and also fun to write.
> 
> This chapter also closes up a few unexplained things from earlier chapters (Ex. how Ranboo even got there, why there was conveniently an extra room, extra chair at the dining table, etc.)

Realizing that they’re not really a ‘boy’ opens up a lot more things they haven’t accepted about themself, things they consider weird that are okay now,

The others of the essempi stim, that's what they call it, ‘stimming’, the word feels nice to say, good on their tongue, not being ‘annoying’ or ‘weird’ or ‘distracting’, stimming.

Callahan signs to speak, apparently he’s mute but not deaf, and sometimes he repeats a sign until his hands ache a bit, laughing silently in joy.

Fundy claps his hands together when he’s happy, or smacks his palms against his legs or a table or a wall, sometimes he does it when he’s angry to calm down, never in the way of hitting a wall, it’s never violent. When he’s thinking or frustrated he’ll rub his knuckles back and forth over each other.

Tommy jumps up and down when happy, little wings flapping happily behind him and sometimes smacking things over, sometimes when he’s extra excited his hands will flap too, going up and down with him. He looks like he’s having enough fun that Ranboo wants to join, sometimes, but never does, just smiling politely and ignoring it,

Others do other things, less noticeable, drumming fingers or tapping pens or things like that, but no one ever calls it ‘annoying’ or tells them to stop, and it’s comforting.

They start to use their enderman noises again when in private, if they’re not by anyone there’s no reason to hide it, right? So what’s the worst that could happen if they chirp happily when mining and finding diamond, or make a vrrpy coo at themself to calm themself down while panicking.

The worst is that they could forget they’re supposed to hide those things, apparently. Unable to stop the happy chirp that leaves their mouth before they can think about it when they find diamond, their brain completely ignoring the fact that Fundy is currently calling them over their ear com, perfectly able to hear them.

Instead of yelling or teasing or calling them annoying, instead Fundy responds back with a distinctly fox-like chirp, not particularly mocking them, but copying.

They repeat it back and both go back and forth, trying to copy each other until they end up with a generally similar result, laughing over it.

After that they use their enderman noises more, not much, compared to the others hybrid noises at least, but more. The first time they use them properly near Tommy he calls them ‘poggers’ and they laugh so hard they wheeze for a few minutes while Tommy yells at them.

They start doing other things too, flapping their hands excitedly when they’re alone, or repeating their vrrs and vrps to themself just because the sound feels nice on their lips and tongue and it sounds good.

They’re talking to Tommy at some point and flap their hands unthinkingly as they talk, the topic is exciting and it makes them want to move and show the world their excitement, though as soon as they notice they drop their hands limp to their sides, face flushing awkwardly,

Tommy raises an eyebrow at them and they wince, looking away from him entirely, anxiety rising as they wait for him to start yelling, telling them to stop being annoying and just be normal for once,

“Why’d you stop?” Tommy asks, instead, not sounding angry, but they’ve never been good at telling that so maybe he is and he’s going to start yelling,

“Uh, sorry, I know it’s annoying, I’ll stop,” They apologize, frowning, all of the excitement that bubbled up and out of them dying down instead to guilt and fear,

“We’re not fuckin’ assholes,” Tommy says instead, crossing his arms over his chest, “you’re allowed to stim big man,”

They pause, their hands twitch to wring in front of them but they stop them, keeping them flat against their sides, “It’s fine, I get it’s annoying, I can stop, it’s fine,” They assure, pointedly ignoring Tommy’s gaze,

“Do you find it annoying when I stim? Or anyone else?” He asks, his voice doesn’t sound angry but some other emotion, frustration maybe?

“No,” They admit, ears swivelling down slightly, 

“Than why the fuck would we get annoyed by you stimming? Or even stop you if it was annoying?” Tommy asks, “I’m pretty sure it’s a unanimous vote we would rather someone stim than possibly have a panic attack or something,”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry,” They admit, frowning, guilty they thought that the people here would be mad that they stim,

“It’s fine big man, now come on, finish your story, it was getting interesting,” Tommy states, shoving them slightly in the shoulder good-heartedly, “And don’t hide your stimming anymore, alright?”

They nod in agreeance, anxiety calming slowly, “Alright, alright,”

Sleeping and waking up in the panic room becomes pretty normal, sometimes they have nightmares before or after that XD snaps them out of, and sometimes they don’t,

Time passes weirdly in the panic room, dream logic of some sort, but still strange, a few times it only lasts a few minutes, barely any time to say anything before they’re sitting up into a new day, and sometimes it feels like it lasts days, even though only a few hours go by,

The stranger part is they don’t forget the dreams, they forget pieces of course, their memory is about as good as swiss cheese on the best of days, but unlike most their nightmares they never fade away, they’re more like their normal memories,

They don’t like thinking about that, so they choose to ignore it and think of it as just strange, recurring dreams.

They’re in the panic room again, the feeling of entering it is similar to the feeling of waking up and is disorienting, feeling both themself falling asleep and waking up at the same time.

XD is sitting across from them like usual, a familiar hum surrounding the room from an unknown source,

“Hello,” XD greets like usual, voice a calm echo that they think has differentiated more from Dream’s voice overtime, or maybe they’ve just noticed the differences, “How’d you sleep?”

“You should stop referring to it as that, makes my brain feel all weird,” Ranboo grumbles, “It makes me feel fake,”

“Well, it is, just think about it that if you’re awake here, you’re asleep there, and vice versa,” XD states simply, “But I’ll stop referring to it that way, if you want,”

“Please,” Ranboo says, sighing and leaning their head back against the cool obsidian wall,

XD hums in acknowledgement, picking up one of the fake cats and cradling it in his arms, “So, how are you doing in the world of the awake?”

Ranboo snorts at the new nickname for it, “Better, Puffy gave me a weighted blanket and some stim toys, my memory is getting better but I guess there is more things to remember,”

“That’s good, you’re learning to live normally again,”

“Live normally?” Ranboo asks, tilting their head, “I’ve been living normally for a while,”

“I don’t think playing in murder matches and having multiple panic attacks per day counts as living normally,” XD says sarcastically, “You were surviving, not living,”

Ranboo scoffs, “It wasn’t that bad, if it was so terrible I could’ve, should’ve just-”

“Left?” XD finishes, voice unimpressed, “And done what? Go back to Niki with all your anxiety about her possibly hating you? Back to a village that hated you? Onto a survival world to be alone?”

Ranboo frowns, looking down at the black obsidian floors,

“Your choice to stay or not was one made for you by circumstance, you just want to believe you had a decision in it because what does it mean if you didn’t? You don’t want to believe it as another time that you bent to the will of something that wasn’t yourself,” XD states, voice almost bored,

They flinch slightly, curling up on themself, they wish they had their weighted blanket, it is always comforting when they’re anxious, “But I could’ve, I should, I-”

“Ranboo, you made the best decision you could’ve, a very difficult one, and that decision also harmed you, both of those can exist at the same time,” XD says patiently, “That doesn’t mean you made the wrong one, or it’s your fault, it was a bad situation you were a victim of,”

Ranboo scoffs wetly, wiping away tears before they burn down their cheeks, they aren’t particularly thrilled to learn if pain also works here, “Yeah, and I guess the people I murdered are also people I’m the victim of, huh?”

“No, they were also victims, Hypixel was a terrible server that survived off bloodlust and no other options for the people in it, you’d still be there if it wasn’t for an accident of your hybrid powers,”

Ranboo shudders at the idea of still having to be there, even if they sometimes miss the adrenaline rush that matches would bring, they certainly did not miss it there,

“How did I get here?” They ask, voice low and quiet, scared of an answer, “Why did I come here?”

XD hums, tilting his head, “I guess you wouldn’t remember,” He states, “Well, I guess I can tell you,”

“You got injured in a match but won, and you were travelling back to the medical center to get healed,” XD starts, his voice taking on the tone of someone telling a story, “A group of people looking for fighters for fighting rings saw you, and well, wished for another champion,”

Ranboo’s heart drops, to say they remembered that would be a lie, but they remember feeling fear, and that is just as important as the actual memory,

“You got quite injured trying to get away from them, one grabbed you and in fear, you used your soulmate bond to teleport somewhere you deemed safe, though sadly you didn’t end up in the community house, so you wandered in the rain before passing out, Techno’s enderman friend found you and led them to you, and they took care of you,”

“Oh,” They say dumbly, staring down at their lap, “Thank you,”

“Why are you thanking me?” XD asks, tilting his head,

“You told me so I could remember, thank you,” They specify, “So my bond with Niki brought me here?”

“I never specified Niki, if it was her alone here you’d probably not feel a strong enough tug to come,”

Ranboo freezes, “So what are you implying?”

“I am not implying anything, I am saying Niki isn’t your only soulmate here,”

“You’re a liar, you’re only saying what I want you to,” Ranboo argues back quickly, more to themself than to XD, 

“We’ve been over this, I’m not you, I only speak the truth,” XD states easily, “and the truth is you have a suspicious amount of marks that just happen to line up with others colors, you’re observant, you can see that,”

One of Ranboo’s hand’s rise to their chest, hovering over the outlined red mark right over their heart, it’s probably a worrying mark, not many people touch over someone’s heart for no reason, checking for a pulse or maybe CPR, but it’s been one of their favorite’s since they were a child who still accepted love,

They’re not dumb enough to not notice it’s in the same gold that Tubbo has from Tommy, apparently the mark on his arm and Tommy’s fist was from Tommy punching him in the arm, it’s a bit funny to think about,

They wonder why such a soft mark, on their heart and on their palms, could come from Tommy while the one that Tubbo got is violent, even though Tommy didn’t mean it,

“I don’t deserve them,” Ranboo sighs, hugging their legs to their chest,

“Didn’t Eret already have this conversation with you?” XD asks, “Deserving love doesn’t exist, they love you, they’ve loved you since before they met you, you fit here, they kept an extra room and an extra chair and an extra space in the living room for a soulmate that they were hoping to find, and now they have you,”

Through the slight panic and sadness Ranboo feels warmth, whispering a soft “Oh,” as they process the information, they never thought of why there was more space for them when they arrived, they guessed it happened while they were sleeping but-

But they knew, everyone had waited for them, and now here they were,

They wonder if everyone is happy with who showed up.

That thought ruins the warmth, replacing it with icy panic because were they enough? Was everyone disappointed in who arrived to fill this spot? An awkward teen with faulty memory who panicked whenever someone moved too fast and sometimes couldn’t handle hearing basic noises? Would they stay when Ranboo had days where they could remember nothing, weeks of time gone? When they had days where they were sure everything is fake and it’s all going to dissolve into nothing and they’ll be alone?

“Yes,” XD answers and they look up quickly, all but forgetting he was there, “Yes, they’ll stay,”

“I thought you weren’t in my head,” They grumble, wiping tears from their face, gladly, they didn’t burn here,

“I’m not created by your mind, however, I am in your head, that’s how I am in your dreams, it’s not that difficult to grasp,” XD states, before continuing his earlier statement, “They all also have problems and they’re healing from them, you just haven’t seen them yet,”

“Great, they don’t trust me to see them,” Ranboo replies, a bit of a reach, sure, but they’re starting to have their panic and sadness be replaced with annoyance towards the masked man,

“No, because you are a still healing teenager whose problems are currently much more severe from being recent and right now it is their job to be dependable for you, not your job to be dependable for them,”

Ranboo makes an annoyed sound, halfway between a whimper and a growl, “I just want to be helpful and I feel like I’m doing nothing,”

“You’re helping, you are growing bonds with others, and that makes them happy, you go mining for materials that you give out when people need them, which has saved a few armor sets, you help Sam with his redstone machines, you keep Tommy and Tubbo distracted so they don’t cause too much chaos or atleast are there while it happens so it doesn’t go too far, you do plenty, just because the jobs are quiet doesn’t make them any less important,”

They don’t have an answer for that, just sitting and mulling over the words in their head, 

“What would you do if one of them sealed the bond, Ranboo?” XD asks, 

“I- I don’t know,” They admit “I’d probably panic if it was Niki, I feel bad for that though, she should be my first mark and yet-”

“What about the others?” XD cuts them off before they can go off into a tangent,

Their shoulders slump, “I don’t know, I think, I think I’d still panic, but I might be happy, for proof that they care,” They admit, watching as XD goes to respond before-

They flinch as they hear a slam distantly, not in the panic room though, it feels echoey and distant and-

“Fuck,” XD hisses, “Ranboo, Ranboo you need to wake up, okay? Wake up,”

“What?” They ask, feeling their body grow weaker as their vision becomes blurry,

“Wake up!” XD snaps and they flinch out of sleep, waking up into their room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger pog???
> 
> Hope you're ready for the next chapter! :>


	20. Colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo wakes up to Tommy panicking and tries to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter, all of your reactions were VERY funny though lol (shoutout to the person who thought it was a house fire)
> 
> Nothing too bad happens, don't worry, this is a comfort chapter.

Ranboo is awoken from their dream by the sound of Tommy’s door opening and shutting followed by fast footsteps, which is not so uncommon.

The strange part is the lack of sunlight shining into their room, signifying it still being night, along with the lack of a happy yell or trying to awake Tubbo or anything else.

The strange part is the soft crying they can only still hear from this distance due to their unnaturally good hearing.

They fling themself out of bed quickly, dashing out of their own room and following were Tommy went, heart almost stopping in their own chest seeing the front door open, rain pattering on the steps and Tommy sobbing his heart out a few paces from the front porch,

They have at least the thought to grab their jacket to shove onto themself and some shoes before running out, hundreds of bad scenarios running through their head, he could get attacked by mobs, or he could get sick from the rain, or he could run off further and get lost,

They slow down as the approach Tommy, hearing his sobs and gasping breath even over the pouring rain that is already starting to sting their skin in a way they know will be unimaginably painful in a bit, they can’t find it in themself to care,

“Hey,” They say, tone soft but loud enough for Tommy to hear over the rain, “Tommy, it’s okay,”

“I’m sorry- I’m sorry it’s fine i'm sorry I can handle it I’m sorry,” Tommy chokes out, looking at them with wide, terrified eyes,

“It’s okay, let’s just get you inside, okay?” They say, hands trembling a bit at their sides as they try to comfort him, they really hope they won’t have to stay out in the rain much longer, it’s starting to hurt,

“No, no I can’t I can’t!” Tommy yells, backing away from them, making them flinch hard,

They swallow a whimper from the increasing pain of water on their skin, “Tommy please, it hurts,” They whimper out, reaching out a hand slowly t ohim.

Tommy looks at them with wide eyes before nodding timidly, stepping to walk inside and his legs all but collapsing under him, Ranboo having to catch him,

Ranboo picks him up easily under the legs, shifting him so they’re holding him bridal style, they move to walk to the house, the rain becoming increasingly painful, they hear the sound of a bow string snap as an arrow from a skeleton goes off, tensing for impact but feeling nothing besides the feeling of misplaced air as their surroundings suddenly get brighter,

They look around to find themself in the main hallway, still holding Tommy who is holding onto them tightly, breathing harsh,

They shake off whatever just happened and set Tommy down with his back against the wall, both of them dripping water onto the floor, they hope no one is mad later,

“Hey, breath with me, okay? Everything will be alright,” They reassure, crouching in front of the boy,

“I-It won’t, it won't and I will be alone again and fuck I don’t wanna be alone please don’t leave me please!” Tommy begs, hands coming up to grip a handful of the sleeves of their jacket, tears are dripping down his face and the sight is so painfully pitiable they wanna cry,

Instead, they let him grip onto them and continue talking, “I’m not going anywhere, okay? No one is going to leave you, we’re all here, everyone is asleep upstairs,” They say softly, “I need you to breathe with me, okay? We’re going to breath together,”

“Can’t I can’t I can’t,” Tommy wheezes, breath stuttering more now that he was aware of it’s unevenness, now working double as hard to try to correct it and failing, Ranboo understood that feeling, it’s how most of their panic attacks went,

“Shhhhhh,” They shush softly, wrapping their hands over one of Tommy’s arms unthinkingly and pressing his palm against their chest so he can feel the steady thump of their heart, it is something that they’d seen help with others panic attacks before, so they hope it helped, they wince from a sudden stinging were Tommy touches but blame it from the contact on their burns, “Can you feel me breathing and my heartbeat? We’re going to try to match that, okay? We’re going to do 4-4-4”

Tommy nods, the movement jerky as he chokes on another sob and they hold back a wince, keeping their face soft and kind, “Okay, in for four, one, two, three, four” They count softly, watching as Tommy sucks in a breath, “Hold one, two, three-” Tommy coughs out the breath harshly, choking on it,

“Sorry I’m sorry-” He chokes, coughing harshly,

“It’s okay, let’s try again, in one, two, three, four. Hold one, two, three, four, out one, two, three, four,” They say, keeping the rhythm steady with the heartbeat that Tommy can feel, 

Tommy manages, coughing harshly after breathing out, “Good, you’re doing good Tommy, let’s try again,” They praise, continuing the cycle,

After they get the rhythm down Ranboo drops Tommy’s hand, trying to continue the breathing exercise when Tommy stops focusing on them suddenly, his gaze dropping to his hands,

They follow the gaze confused and stare, wide-eyed, at Tommy’s arm, covered in three separate marks of bright Red and Green,

“Holy shit,” Tommy whispers, rubbing one hand along the marks on his skin like he’s checking if they’re real or not, before looking up at Ranboo, fearing their reaction,

They’re fearing their own reaction a little bit, staring down at their palms, the outline filled in gold, almost matching Tommy’s hair,

Both freeze at the sound of footsteps, someone (Ranboo can’t see), rounding the corner with a yawn,

“What the fuck is going on down here?” Skeppy says with a yawn, Bad hissing ‘language’ tiredly from behind him,

They both blink as they stare at the two teens, both absolutely dripping wet and Ranboo’s skin looking increasingly irritated by the water, Tommy curled into a corner, both with new marks neither has seen on them before,

“Oh fuck,” Skeppy whispers, staring at the two teens looking back at them sheepishly,

“Uh, hi?” Ranboo squeaks, voice trembling slightly with anxiety from many sources, some part of them wishes to run but they know that they’d probably fall instantly,

“Oh muffins you’re burning, we need to dry you off!” Bad yelps, running off to grab towels for the burning enderman hybrid,

“We should probably get both of you in a better spot,” Skeppy says, watching as Bad runs off and the red mark on his own cheek turning just a tiny bit brighter in fondness, walking over to the two teens, both in a pretty bad state,

Ranboo accepts Skeppy’s help getting up, legs trembling just a bit in a mix of pain anxiety, Tommy is a bit less unbalanced, the new mark soothing even though anxiety for how Ranboo is reacting doesn’t help his still lessening panic attack,

Skeppy manages to corral the two teenagers into the medical room to get Ranboo a healing potion, deciding it a bad idea to seperate the two freshly marked and panicking teens, searching through cabinets as Bad comes in with a change of clothes for both teens and towels,

Bad dries off Ranboo’s hair, face, and more exposed skin as he scolds them both for going out into the rain, though clearly more worried than angered, Skeppy can almost feel the worry through the soulmark on his cheek and walks over, placing a hand on his back comfortingly while he hands Ranboo the potion,

“Drink it, it will help the burns, then go change so that it doesn’t continue,” He instructs softly, not wanting to stress out the teenager more,

Ranboo nods, sipping the potion while Tommy finishes drying himself off, though he doesn’t leave to go change, waiting for Ranboo to finish so they aren’t too far separated,

Both leave the room after to go and change in their rooms, not leaving each others side until they have to split to enter their individual rooms,

Bad and Skeppy busy themself downstairs with setting up the living room, while soulmarks being fulfilled was a great event, and they’d probably celebrate in the morning with a breakfast both of them enjoy and congratulations, they also made you feel a lot of emotions (especially if it happened during one of them having a panic attack, though they’re not sure with if not both had one) so they decide to do something to comfort the teens,

What better way than the first movie night since Ranboo has got here?

Tommy finishes changing quicker (a bit easier when his skin doesn’t hurt from being half melted into his clothing) and waits outside Ranboo’s room impatiently, tracing over the marks.

Multiple colored ones are rare, sometimes they existed in the middle of big personality shifts, but sometimes they settled like that, Tommy thinks this fits Ranboo, it matches their eyes and how they seem so split some of the time over things, caught between confident and insecure, happy and sad, forgetful and incredible memory.

It fit, and Tommy loved it, Tommy loved Ranboo, like a sibling, like a friend, like an accomplice. An allium sits hidden in a chest full of things they stole from George together, given to him by Ranboo on one of the first days they were let out of the house, probably forgotten by the taller hybrid, and cherished by Tommy.

Tommy is startled out of his fond thoughts by Ranboo’s door opening, revealing them probably the most dressed down Tommy has seen them since they showed up in the rain the first time (or maybe when they were helping Tommy a few minutes earlier, but he wasn’t focusing on what they were wearing then). Their hoodie hangs slightly off on them, a bit too big on their thin frame to make up for their height, and it is almost a bit funny,

“Hey big man,” Tommy says, reaching to lace their fingers together, it calms down his own brain more, a little bubble of peace now to be enjoyed by them both together, it feels similar to Tubbo’s or Niki’s, but a bit different, a bit more like Ranboo, he can feel Ranboo’s anxiety behind it and Ranboo can feel his,

“Hey,” Ranboo replies softly, reaching up their other hand (palm completely marked with Tommy’s gold, a mark of Tommy’s soul staining their skin forever, it makes Tommy feel incredibly happy) and brushing it through Tommy’s slightly damp hair, he doesn’t shrug it off like he usually does when someone shows affection outside of specific moments, letting both of them bask in a new soulmark,

“Let’s go downstairs, I think they’re doing something for us,” Tommy says softly, leading the taller hybrid down the stairs again, refusing to let go of their hand, the contact makes the mark feel real, makes him aware of it, wrapping around his arm and on his palm, pushing comfort into the deepest pits of his soul,

They walk into the living room, hearing soft conversation and footsteps, and find Skeppy and Bad quietly moving around furniture and laying out spare blankets and pillows,

“Movie night,” Skeppy says before either ask, “You guys can pick,”

Tommy brightens before looking at Ranboo when he feels a twinge of anxiety through the bond, twinging uncomfortably over were Ranboo marked, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, we can go back to sleep,” He says, quiet enough he doubts even Bad or Skeppy heard it,

Ranboo’s ear twitches to hear the noise, shifting uncomfortably and avoiding his eyes, “It’s fine, just anxious, I feel like this a lot,” They explain softly and Tommy frowns, he knows Ranboo has anxiety, but he really hopes that Ranboo doesn’t live every day feeling like this,

“Come on, we’ll pick a movie while they wake everyone up,” Tommy says softly, leading Ranboo over to a spot on the folded out couches were they can sit next to each other comfortably and not have Ranboo’s way too long legs hang off, 

Bad and Skeppy disappear to wake everyone up, Bad gently shaking the children awake first while Skeppy jumps onto a sleeping Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap, cackling wildly as all of them jerk awake.

“What the fuck!” Sapnap hisses at him angrily, smacking his arm, not as hard as he could, but hard enough that Skeppy can laugh at him being so pissed,

“Soulmarking and a panic attack, we’re having a movie night,” He explains, “Get up and be downstairs or I think Bad will drag you down there,”

All of them look confused, apparently deducing it probably had to do with Ranboo (the only one unmarked by anyone else) and probably not any of them or Bad and Skeppy, but no further knowledge as Skeppy leaves to wake someone else up, instead just walking downstairs, holding a few pillows and blankets in hand,

Tommy and Ranboo are curled up against each other, arguing softly over a movie with no fight in either of their tones, both of their hair just a bit damp and Ranboo’s skin flushed slightly with irritated still-healing burns,

Sapnap manages to only grumble a few complains as the three make their spots, followed after a while by a sleepy Tubbo and Fundy walking into the room,

“Whas’ goin on?” Tubbo mumbles, rubbing tiredness out of his eyes,

Fundy, marginally more awake, taps his arm and points over at the two teenagers, Tubbo’s mouth makes an ‘o’ and he quickly finds a spot with the others, close enough he could reach over and touch Tommy easily but not intruding on their small space together as they finally decide on a movie (one Tommy wanted and Ranboo didn’t care enough to argue about,)

Others follow after, Wilbur and Phil, followed by an annoyed and half-asleep Schlatt and an even more asleep Techno, though both soften when they see the two teens, 

Tommy raises a confused eyebrow at Ranboo when he feels a pulse of anxiety as soon as Dream walks in, George slung over his shoulder as waking him up is a losing battle. 

Sam and Ponk follow, noticeably more awake than most and Sam asking Tommy in a soft voice if both are okay, Tommy answers for both with a nod, Ranboo shrinking slightly into his side at the attention,

Then Punz and Purpled, both don’t look particularly like they were sleeping but equally annoyed with being pulled from their rooms, not even making spots on the couch to sleep and instead just sitting leaning against it, Punz playing a game on his communicator while Purpled next to pouts with crossed arms,

Antfrost comes down next, fur all puffed out from sleeping and Tommy laughs at it, receiving a glare with no malice as he sets up his spot, Callahan comes down too, setting up his own spot without saying (or signing) anything.

Niki comes down next, and Tommy catches the mix of relief and sadness, almost envy, she has as she looks at the new mark on Tommy’s arm, Tommy gets it, she didn’t get their first mark and Tommy did, he’d probably be a bit pissed too if something like that happened with him, Puffy steers her away from moping as she comes down with way too many blankets, handing a few to Tommy which he realises are his and Ranboo’s, he thanks her quietly for them.

Eret and Jack are last, both their rooms are the farthest so it isn’t surprising they’d be last to be awoken, Eret because of their ‘kingship’ as everyone so named it and wanting to be highest, and Jack to distance him as far from Tommy as possible as after a week of living near each other everyone learnt they were insufferable,

Eret asks Ranboo if they’re okay with a soft voice, receiving a small nod in response as Ranboo curls tighter under their weighted blanket that Puffy brought down, tail lashing and hitting Tommy’s leg softly.

They start the movie once everyone is ready, Ranboo forgets the name, some superhero movie? They don’t really know, more focused on the intense calm that radiates from being near Tommy, from leaning against his shoulder.

They love Tommy, they know that, not in the romantic sense, definitely not, or even really the brotherly way, they can’t name it, it’s just love and trust, they know Tommy will support them.

(Tommy stood up for them when people thought they helped burn George’s room, he took the blame, they grew close to Tommy when both were homebound, listening to him talk for hours in this room, they think they love Tommy as they run their fingers through his hair while listening to Mellohi in the corner with a jukebox)

Ranboo has completely lost the plot of the movie at this point, only able to focus on the calm warmth of Tommy at their side, whispering quips about what is happening, they feel his sadness when some character (spiderman??? apparently??) turns to dust and force as many happy emotions as they can back,

They’re probably not the best at it, seeming as this is their first time ever having a soulmark, but Tommy calms down, so maybe it helps, or at least they don’t make it worse.

They drift off eventually, leaning against Tommy’s shoulder in a position that should be uncomfortable but isn’t, a soft enderman purr in their chest, they don’t know if it actually makes sound, but either way Tommy can probably feel it, which makes them equal parts embarrassed and happy.

They wake up in the morning, blinking awake to a much brighter living room, people sprawled around and some already missing, the sound of laughter and plates clinking a few rooms away.

They take a few seconds to remember how they even got here, eyes widening as they look down at their palms, suddenly remembering the night before,

Holy fuck they were soulmarked, they had soulmarked someone, holy fuck.

They feel a mix of terror and excitement, they’re so happy to have proof that they’re loved, and accepted, and won’t be alone, but this is a weakness, something that can be ripped away and a sign of their love for someone else too, they don’t want to fuck this up so badly,

Tommy groans softly, sitting up and blinking around blearily,

“Stop feeling so loudly and go back to sleep,” He complains, leaning against Ranboo’s shoulder tiredly,

They laugh softly, “Sorry, sorry,” They apologize, the anxiety fading with the wave of calm sleepiness that Tommy pushes over them, 

They look over and see Niki curled up next to Puffy and guilt washes over them, leaving a tingling pain over were Niki’s mark is around them,

Niki deserved her mark to be fulfilled first and it was not, they are happy with getting Tommy’s first, they know that it would’ve taken them a lot longer to psyche themself up to mark Niki after everything, but it is still something she deserved,

“You’re failing at my demands, bitch,” Tommy remarks, bonking his head against their shoulder, probably hurting himself more than it hurt them, “You’re fine,”

They nod, breathing in and out once or twice before calming down fully, getting off of their makeshift bed from the couch (that they didn’t even know were pull outs) and managing to avoid stepping on anyone laid out on the floor.

Tommy fails to do the same, stepping on at least 3 people's arms and tripping full force onto Jack, who wakes up with a start and punches him in the arm for it, starting a small brawl that wakes everyone else up.

Ranboo chuckles as they watch the two fight, unable to make their feet go any farther away from Tommy, they usually would, watching even the play fights usually Tommy gets into usually make them uncomfortable, but they are still riding the dopamine and adrenaline high of the soulmark, so maybe they’re acting a bit weird,

Eventually Phil storms in to see what is causing the ruckus, pulling the two apart with scoldings over it being ‘too early for this’, sending Tommy off to Ranboo who is still hovering near the door and making Jack sit down for a few minutes to cool down,

Tommy walks back over to Ranboo, cradling a cheek that Jack accidentally jabbed with his elbow, glaring as the hybrid snickers at them,

“Fuckin’ bitch,” Tommy grumbles but grabs Ranboo’s arm anyways, tugging them towards the dining room, touch almost shockingly gentle to the taller hybrid,

Ranboo follows him, raising their eyebrows when they look at the many plates of set out food, even more than usual, which is saying a lot for a household of twenty-something?

“Are we having a party or something?” They joke softly, probably unheard by anyone but Tommy,

Tommy looks at them and blinks, they can feel his confusion and wonder if this is why everyone knows how everyone else is feeling, maybe that’s why they’ve never gotten it, “It’s for us big man,”

“What?” They ask softly, they wonder if Tommy can feel their confusion as well,

“To celebrate us, you know,,,” Tommy trails off, looking down at the mark on his arm and Ranboo’s palms like he’s scared they’ve disappeared suddenly,

“Oh,” They say, sort of dumbly, they never really thought of the celebration part of soulmarks, it’s usual, but they never really processed that, they’ve barely processed that they have one now, that their skin has a mark that others can see, that Tommy loves them.

They robotically follow Tommy to his seat, Tommy urging them to sit next to him instead of their usual spot, they’re a bit too caught up in the realization that this is real, that they have a fulfilled soulmark now, that this isn’t a dream they’ll wake up from,

They barely register the passing time until they hear more voices in the room and look around, immediately drawn to Tommy’s worried gaze at them,

“If you can’t handle this right now we can take some food and leave and I will tell anyone trying to bother us to fuck off,” Tommy suggests, whispering so that only Ranboo could hear them,

They shake their head ‘no’, they’re pretty sure if they left after they set up all this for the two they’d drown in guilt, “It’s fine, just not used to it,” They assure softly,

Tommy looks suspicious but nods slowly, keeping an eye on them as more people filter into the room, seats changed up a little bit due to Tommy refusing to let Ranboo not sit next to him.

They’re almost shocked that no one really complains about it besides arguing over seats, maybe it’s how much they look like they’ll shatter like glass if anyone raises their voice at them currently,

Breakfast passes in a haze of congratulations that are barely heard over the static in their ears, they think it probably was good, but none of the flavor processes.

Tommy drags them up to their room after, shoving an outfit into their arms before leaving, apparently expecting them to change,

They do, probably slower than normally, everything takes a minute to process, and they are growing increasingly uncomfortable from being away from Tommy, they hope they don’t remain this clingy forever, maybe this is a punishment for waiting so long.

The outfit feels comfortable on their skin, none of the textures are bad and they wonder if Tommy memorized what ones they wear when distressed before shaking it off, he probably just chose randomly and happened to pick these.

They briefly touch their hand over the golden mark over their heart, some part of them that is still an afraid child fears it will rub away like paint, but it stays, marked onto their skin, the texture isn’t even different.

It is hard to explain how the mark feels, it feels like Tommy, they guess, not physically of course, the skin feels exactly the same, they can even feel the scar that used to be there from a slice across the chest with a sword, but it makes them feel something when they think about it too long, or touch Tommy, or touch the mark.

It feels warm, not temperature-wise but emotionally, fond with a hint of excitement that pushes them in between calm and an adrenaline rush.

They shake themself out of their thoughts and finish buttoning their shirt, stepping out of their room to find Tommy leaning against the wall, also changed into his usual outfit, they wonder if he just has multiple of the same outfit or if he just never changes,

“Took you long enough, bitch,” Tommy grumbles but they can feel he isn’t actually mad, him reaching out and grabbing their hand, “Come on,”

“Where are we going?” They ask, following Tommy as he drags them downstairs,

“You’re going to experience a Tommyinnit tradition,” He states, having to momentarily let go of their hand to shove on his shoes quickly, 

They raise an eyebrow but get no further explanation, putting on their shoes quickly and then getting dragged out of the house by Tommy,

He, surprisingly, doesn’t talk much on the trip, just leading them along, the bond that ties them together now randomly sending them feelings of fondness when he looks back at them,

Tommy leads him up to the edge of a cliff with a bench a few paces away from the edge, a worn but in good shape jukebox sitting next to it,

“We’re here!” Tommy declares, throwing his free arm open, “Welcome to the bench big man,”

“What is this place?” Ranboo asks softly, looking around at the small clearing,

“The bench, I made it with Tubbo, it’s a recreation of something we had when we were younger,” Tommy explains, leading them over to the bench and sitting down, they sit down next to him carefully, “You know that Tubbo was my first soulmark? We made the bench then and sat together and listened to my discs, and it kinda became a tradition whenever I got a soulmark to do it,”

“Huh,” They respond simply, staring out at the distance, clouds blocking out some of the sun so it doesn’t hurt their eyes as much,

Tommy pulls a disc out of his inventory, Mellohi, and slides it into the jukebox, leaning against Ranboo’s shoulder as the music slowly starts,

“So, how do you feel about the mark big man?” Tommy asks, voice just a bit softer, calmed by the familiar tune,

“I, I don’t know, honestly, sorry,” Ranboo answers, frowning, “I am happy but I am also confused and scared,”

“I get it, well, I don’t get it get it, but I understand where you’re coming from,” Tommy says, rubbing a thumb soothingly over Ranboo’s knuckles from were their hands are still interlaced, “I got so freaked out when I marked Tubbo that I punched him again,”

That surprises a wheezing laugh out of Ranboo, choking slightly on their breath,

“You what?” They ask, entirely too amused from the information,

Tommy glares at them with no malice and it spurs them into more laughter, having to turn away and wheeze into their hand to try to stop it,

“You’re a bitch, why do I like you so much,” Tommy grumbles, they think they weren’t supposed to hear the last part but it makes warmth bloom in their chest, warmth that Tommy can feel,

“Sorry, sorry,” They apologize, definitely not sorry, “It’s just funny,”

“Hey, you started tearing up when we soulmarked! I thought you were gonna start fuckin’ sobbing or something!” Tommy says, laughing a bit himself now, “You were also all burnt up n’ shit, sorry for that,”

“It’s fine, I ran out without grabbing an umbrella or something, it was my fault,” Ranboo states, sighing softly, their skin still feels a little prickly and sensitive all over from the burns, a regen potion can only do so much,

Tommy frowns, “You did it to help me though, just accept the thanks, bitch,”

They laugh a bit at the moment being ruined yet again by Tommy’s inability to not curse, smiling softly, “Yeah, you’re welcome,”

Tommy hums in response, leaning against them fully again, focusing onto the humming music in the background as they rest against each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST SOULMARK POG!!!!!!!!!!! I was going to make this angsty originally and base it off Tommy's canon death, but I'm sad about it still so instead I shall ignore it and make this a Tommy comfort chapter.
> 
> Since it needs to be specified probably because idk if I mentioned it before: Touching while bonded makes you able to feel the other's emotions when touching (like they're your own when first bonded, but it calms down after 24 hours-ish and after that can be hidden), after bonding you usually get clingier to the person as they literally now have a piece of your soul on them, this also calms down after a certain amount of time but still being apart for too long can feel uncomfortable or physically painful after a while.


	21. Absolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Niki finish what they should've a long time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise all chapters from now on aren't just gonna be soulmarking, but I felt that Niki finally deserved to get one from Ranboo.

Ranboo is happy with their first soulmark, something so clear that they can look at whenever (plus the mark over their heart, but that felt private, they don’t know if even Tommy knows about it even though he also has a mark on his hand,)

Though the guilt of it not being Niki’s eats them slowly, she hasn’t talked to them much since the soulmark besides a small congratulations, and they get it, neither actually talk much, more of the ‘peaceful silence’ types, but they can’t help but feel she’s avoiding them.

So, after a few days of thinking about it (and several conversations with XD), they decide to go and find her, collecting a small bouquet of Alliums on the way, the flowers rest comfortingly in their hands.

They follow the phantom tug they’ve grown used to until they find Niki sitting a few paces away from the edge of the cliff they’d had a conversation with Schlatt on before, staring off into the sky in the distance,

“Hello,” They greet softly, not approaching her, they’re a bit worried she’s mad at them, that if they approach she’ll yell (even though she isn’t really the yelling type),

She looks behind her at them, smiling softly, “Hey Ranboo,”

They calm down from her lack of an angered response, approaching slowly and sitting next to her,

She goes back to looking at the sky, neither talking for quite a few minutes,

The silence is a mix of calming and awkward, both ignoring the conversation they need to have, that they’ve needed to have for a while now,

“So,” Ranboo starts, finally, running a finger over the alliums petals,

Niki hums to show she is listening, looking over at them,

“I’m sorry,” They apologize, first, slumping slightly from their stiff posture, “I know you’re probably mad at me, I don’t blame you if you are,”

“What are you talking about?” She asks earnestly, confusion written on her face,

They look down at their hands, golden palms looking back at them, “The soulmark, you deserved to have my first and I stopped you from touching me until I got another one,”

“Ranboo, hey, no, look at me,” She says and they look over, wincing when they make brief eye contact before they focus on a different part of her face, “I am not mad at you, okay? I get it, even if it doesn’t make sense to me I understand your reasoning, I am not angry, okay?”

They nod, biting their lip to stop it from wobbling, they refuse to cry from Niki saying she ISN’T mad at them, it’d be such a waste to mark their tear scarred face even deeper from that.

“It’s not just that, I’m sorry for leaving, sorry for not coming back until I was literally dying and you had to deal with that, I’m sorry for everything, really,” They state, frowning,

“I forgive you, I am sorry that I couldn’t keep us safe enough that you felt your only choice was to go onto a battle server, I’m sorry for never trying to find you, I’m sorry for not protecting you enough, your my little sibling and I should’ve been there more, I should still be there more,” She says, voice apologetic but not as soft as usual, showing Ranboo that she is serious,

They nod, “I wasn’t mad in the first place, I never blamed you for that Niki,” They state, shaking their head slightly, “You were also young and shouldn’t have had to take care of me,”

“Yes, but I still could’ve done stuff for you better,” She states, “We both made mistakes,”

They sigh and nod, though they don’t really agree, Niki did nothing wrong, it’s all their fault, but they also know that line of thinking is false, so they don’t say it.

“So, how was the soulmarking? Did it feel nice or are you still freaked out about it?” Niki asks patiently, looking down at were she can see it on their palms,

“It’s,,, strange, I didn’t really expect it to feel like that,” They admit, “I was scared of having one, you know, but I never really thought of the implications of being able to feel other people's emotions,”

She laughs softly, “Yeah, it’s strange, the emotion stuff and clinginess dies down eventually,”

“Good, I can only handle so much Tommyinnit in my life,” Ranboo mutters sarcastically, earning another laugh from Niki,

“Yeah, I don’t miss when we first soulmarked, still happy about it though,” She says, looking fondly at the gold on the side of her hand, “We just accidentally brushed hands and suddenly boom, soulmate, he yelled about it for a while, I think he had the calmest reaction to yours,”

“Oh,” They say, flushing lightly, ears lowering, “Really?”

She nods, smiling at them, “He hit most of us after in panic, he screamed at me, oh when he marked Dream he apparently laughed at him for like half an hour because he marked him right across the face, he used to be red so it showed up so clearly, he was probably glad he wore the mask already,” She states, laughing from the memories, “But he’s really nice after, clingy too,”

They nod, remembering how Tommy basically dragged them around the entire day after they bonded (not that they minded, if Tommy just left they’d probably have cried),

“I’ve thought of it a lot, and I’m glad Tommy was the first you fulfilled a mark with, I’m envious over it also, but I’m not angry at either of you,” Niki says, “I wish I could’ve been the first, but I understand why I couldn’t have been, does that make sense?”

“Yeah, kinda,” They say, huffing softly, “I feel the same I think, not envious, more of guilty, but I’d probably take a lot longer to get used to the idea of you being my first mark than Tommy, because it was an accident,”

She nods, “It’s okay if you’re not ready for any others yet, you’re still getting used to Tommy’s I’m sure.”

“I never said that,” Ranboo mutters, pulling their legs up to their chest,

Niki looks over quickly, eyes a bit wide in surprise,

“I-if you want, of course! I get if you still don’t want to or anything-” They backtrack quickly, stuttering over their words,

“Ranboo,” She says, cutting off their rambling, “Do you want a hug?” She asks, opening her arms,

Their breath is a bit shallow as they uncurl their arms from around themself, slowly reaching out and wrapping their arms around her, feeling her arms wrap around them in turn,

They wince at the stinging sensation it gives in between the outlines of Niki’s mark, it feels a bit like a needle poking into their skin all over but they don’t let go of her, they refuse to.

They don’t let go even after the pain fades, instead just basking in the contact, how long since they last hugged their sister? They don’t even remember at this point, it feels like forever since they were held by their elder sister, after nightmares and when they scrape their knees and when they help her bake.

They feel tears in their eyes and furiously blink them away, shoving their face into her shoulder even though it bends their back uncomfortably, not wishing to burn their face further,

She does not complain even though the position is not particularly comfortable for her either, just holding onto her clearly trying-not-to-cry sibling, waiting for them to choose to pull away,

They do, eventually, after their spine starts aching a bit, looking at were their arms wrapped around her stained a dusty rose red, her arms stained a bright green and red,

She looks up and grins at them, barely hidden excitement shining in her eyes,

“Well, no one was expecting this,” Ranboo says sarcastically, chuckling to themself,

She giggles back, “Definitely not,”

They go back into silence, looking at were the soulmark is visible, mostly hidden under clothing,

“Oh my god is there gonna be another celebration, I can’t get that many compliments again I won’t be able to take it,” Ranboo whines, falling back onto the grass, staring up at the clouds above,

Niki giggles, laying down next to them, “I can tell them not to if you want, or we don’t even have to tell them for a while, we could probably hide these easily,”

“But then I’ll feel bad,” Ranboo says, frowning at the sky,

She smiles, reaching out and grabbing their hand, “No one will be mad, we get that it’s a lot,”

Ranboo sighs, nodding softly, “It’s weird still, I didn’t really expect soulmarks to feel like that, yours feels a bit different to Tommy’s too,”

“Oh?” Niki prompts, giving Ranboo room to talk,

“It’s,,,, weird, I guess, Tommy’s feels a lot more energetic than yours I guess? Kinda sparky, or warm, kinda like a firework, while yours is calmer, it reminds me of your baking actually, less energy behind it, nostalgic,” They say, rambling a bit at the end, “Also it hurt less than I expected, but I guess I was just paranoid of it hurting a lot,”

She nods, “People feel different, along with their emotions being there, it’s also apparently different for the person they mark, like Wilbur feels very calm and safe for Tommy and a lot more, well, loud I guess is the best descriptor, for me, at least that’s what he says,” She says, explaining it as best as she can, “Do you want to hear what you feel like, for me?”

They pause for a second before nodding tentatively, staring up at the clouds instead of looking at her,

“Well, both sides feel a bit different, though they are clearly the same, just a bit split on things,” She begins, smiling fondly as she thinks about it, “The green side feels a bit calmer but also more anxious, a bit nostalgic like how you described me, moldable.”

They nod, listening intently, it sounds like them, even though they hold back a wince at ‘moldable’, a good stand in for ‘will do anything anyone tells them because they’re a coward’

“The other side is more happier, not as energetic as Tommy but still there, all the humor and jokes and everything like that, I don’t know how to really explain it but it feels loyal? Trustworthy and close,”

“That doesn’t really sound like me,” Ranboo argues softly, hand squeezing a bit tighter in Niki’s,

“It does, just because you don’t show that part as much doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” Niki says, “You came here and fulfilled the mark even though it made you anxious because you were loyal to me and wanted me to be happy, that was brave,”

“That was just because I felt bad, also it’s been years, I should’ve a long time ago and didn’t,” They say, frowning up at the sky, refusing to look at her,

“And you came and fixed that and apologized, because you are brave,” She states, squeezing their hand soothingly, “We can’t change that stuff happened before, because we’re here now and I’m happy it ended up like this, if you didn’t refuse to I might’ve never met anyone to go on this server and meet the rest of our soulmates in the first place,”

Ranboo catches her calling the others both of their soulmates but chooses to ignore it, guess they can’t really deny it at this point, “Yeah, I guess so,”

She smiles softly at their agreement, “Do you want to try to find shapes in the clouds?” She asks, seeing them focusing on the sky,

“Like we did when we were younger? In that big plains biome near the village?” Ranboo asks, scanning the clouds for shapes

“I thought you forgot about that,” She admits, sounding a bit surprised that they remember,

“I don’t remember any specific time, I just remember doing it a lot, and being happy while doing it,” They say, shrugging their shoulders as best they can while laying on the ground, 

She nods, “Well, I see a bunny,” She states, pointing at a cloud that is semi-circular with two clouds connecting, like ears,

“Oh, I kinda see it,” Ranboo says, tilting their head to get a better angle, “I see,,,, clouds,”

Niki laughs, “Hey, you got to actually find something,” She says, and they feel fondness leak through the bond,

“Fine, I see a tree,” They say, staring at a cloud that gets bigger in almost a little point, though it doesn’t really narrow enough to fit,

She hums, tilting her head around and trying to find it, “I don’t see it,”

“There, it has a little dip,” They say, pointing at the cloud they were looking at, “Nevermind, it’s changed by now,”

She huffs a soft laugh, “That one looks like the sun,” She says, pointing up at said star,

Both dissolve into laughter at that, laying in the grass under a cloudy blue sky.


	22. Michael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Tubbo become fathers, it goes about as well as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several people suggested a Michael chapter but I was already writing one so- I guess we all have the same braincell!
> 
> Also one of the characters got a THIRD of the votes on being soulmarked next, so have fun with that in a chapter coming soon!
> 
> Oh also shoutout to the person who answered first to the form for the next soulmark and asked for my hand in marriage? Yes but I get to choose the flavor of cake at the wedding

Ranboo has always been a bit easily attached to things, not ever really people, friends were never easy to get, but animals were always nice to them and dragging in strays was a normal occurance to the point Niki called them a disney princess for a while as a kid,

He is walking through the nether with Tubbo when they hear a baby piglin snort followed by a chicken’s squawk, looking around to see a little baby zombie piglin sitting on a chicken, golden sword held loosely in hand,

“Oh he’s so cute!” Tubbo cooes, staring down at the small piglin, “Are you lost?”

The piglin, of course, doesn’t say anything back, just snorting again at them,

“Do you think he has any family around here?” Ranboo asks, looking around for other zombie piglins that aren’t children, shockingly little in sight,

“No, piglins usually stay with their families if they have any, at least that’s what Techno says, so he’s probably alone,” Tubbo says, before gasping happily, “Oh my god Ranboo, we should adopt him!”

“I don’t know, would the others be okay with it?” Ranboo asks, watching as Tubbo kneels in front of the piglin, reaching out and having one of his fingers grabbed,

“Nooooo, the others bring back pets all the time!” Tubbo says, cooing happily again as the baby piglin shakes Tubbo’s finger in his little hand,

“This isn’t a pet, Tubbo, this could give him player data, like Techno,” Ranboo says, kneeling next to the piglin as well, “This is like adopting a baby human,”

“How hard could fatherhood be,” Tubbo says, shrugging, “and can you leave a face this cute here,”

Ranboo looks at the baby piglin, his existing eye is wide and bleary with zombification, his face is chubby like a human childs, though his skin looks a bit less soft, tough enough to survive the nether even as a child,

“Fine,” Ranboo says, sighing, “But if we get in trouble you’re taking full blame,”

“Of course!” Tubbo agrees, wide smile on his face, “Let’s get him back,”

“What are we even going to name him?” Ranboo mutters, desperately trying to lead the piglin back, originally they TRIED to pick him up, but he refused to let go of the chicken, clinging to it so hard they thought he might choke it to death,

“What about Michael?” Tubbo suggests, also leading the chicken their son??? Is on, using seeds so that the chicken will follow,

“Michael? Why Michael?” Ranboo questions, blocking off the path so that Michael doesn’t wander back onto it, leaving them on a floating island, the sides blocked off so that the piglin can’t jump off,

“I don’t know, just fitting, we could call him Mike, or Mikey,” Tubbo states, voice spiking a bit at the ‘ike’ sound and making Ranboo chuckle,

“We will not,” Ranboo says, forcing their voice to sound more serious before dissolving into soft laughter, “Michael is fine,”

Tubbo goes to answer before screeching, Ranboo looks over, worried that he fell into lava, and watches as Michael’s chicken walks off the edge, Michael (gladly) laying untouched on the floor,

“NO! MICHAEL’S CHICKEN!” Tubbo yells, running to the edge and looking down as the chicken slowly lowers into the lava, burning to a crisp,

Ranboo runs over to check on Michael, who is making a soft, shreak-like cry, reaching out to were the chicken fell,

“I know buddy,” They coo softly, picking up the squirming toddler, very glad that Michael dropped the sword so they don’t get shanked, “I know, we’ll get you another chicken,”

Michael makes a much more human-like whine into Ranboo’s neck, one of his small little toddler fists grabbing a handful of their suit jacket, but the crying stops,

“There we go, it’s okay,” Ranboo says, bouncing the toddler softly on their hip, cooing softly at him, 

Tubbo looks at them with surprise, “Holy shit, you’re a baby whisperer,” He says, walking over to where Ranboo is holding the toddler,

“Haha, very funny, do we have a basket? Than we can carry him easier and have him be safe, it will be much colder out there and I don’t want him to get sick,” Ranboo says, searching around their inventory one handed,

“No, I can go get one, I’ll get one of the others to come help bring him back too, one second!” Tubbo says, running through the portal before Ranboo can raise any complaints,

Ranboo huffs softly, sitting down on the ground, cradling the whining toddler in their arms, “What a dork, he never listens to me!” They complain softly, letting the toddler grab one of their fingers, chuckling softly,

“||𝙹⚍'∷ᒷ ᓭ𝙹 ᓵ⚍ℸ ̣ ᒷ” They say, slipping back into enderman tongue easier, they think maybe their vocal cords were more made for that, it just feels better to speak in sometimes,

Michael oinks back at them, using his small baby fist to shake their finger angrily and making them chuckle fondly, 

They look up at the vwoop of the portal being used again, Bad and Tubbo stepping through,

“Oh muffins, you weren’t lying,” Bad says, staring surprised at the little toddler,

“I told you we were adopting a child!”

“I thought you meant jokingly! Or like a pet!” Bad defends, “Not an actual child!’

“Well I was being serious! Now help!” Tubbo says, walking over to Ranboo and Michael, holding a basket in hand,

Ranboo takes the basket and softly maneuvers Michael into it, cooing at him softly when Michael whines at not being in Ranboo’s arms anymore, wrapping him safely in the blankets.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, I’ll hold you again when we get you home, okay?” Ranboo says softly, stroking a finger on one of Michael’s chubby little cheeks,

Michael makes a noise that Ranboo takes as agreement, standing and carefully grabbing the basket,

They raise an eyebrow at the confused looks on both Bad and Tubbo’s faces, 

“What?” They ask, holding the basket just a tiny bit closer,

“I didn’t think you’d be so good with kids,” Tubbo admits, “At least one of us knows what we’re doing,”

“It’s not that hard,” Ranboo mutters, flushing slightly, one of their ears twitching as they hear Michael babble happily,

“Sure,,,,” Tubbo says sarcastically, smirking much too happily at Ranboo’s fondness for the small piglin.

Apparently the trip back can’t be that easy, because suddenly as they walk back rain starts pouring down, making Ranboo flinch as a drop lands on their cheek,

“Shit,” Tubbo hisses when he feels a drop on his own head, looking up at the suddenly much cloudier sky,

“We need to get back, we don’t know how Michael will react to rain,” Ranboo states, quickly shrugging off their suit jacket and laying it over the makeshift bassinet they made for Michael, covering him from any of the rainfall,

“And we know how you will react to it,” Bad says, a hint of irritation in his tone, making them wince softly,

“Sorry,” They apologize, walking a bit quicker, hoping the rain doesn’t intensify too badly before they get back,

Bad looks at them, apparently realizing how that sounded, “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that it’s a bad thing it hurts you! Well, it is, but it’s not your fault, I just was saying you needed to be more careful about it,” He assures worriedly, hands waving in front of him with his words,

They nod, “It’s fine, I need to be more careful,” They say, it still hurts a bit, even though they get that Bad had no ill-will, memories of being told to ‘get over’ their water aversion burning more than the rain does,

The red outlines on their cheeks start to sting and they wince, bringing up their free hand to rub at them,

Bad at the same time starts rubbing uncomfortably at his palms, but they quickly ignore it, not wanting to think of those implications, a bit scared if they do they’ll fall to pieces.

They are gladly distracted from it by Tubbo making a noise of excitement, jogging a little to catch up with the two taller ones, the house coming into view, “We’re almost there Michael! And then you can meet everyone!”

Michael makes a similar noise of excitement, muffled slightly by the jacket covering his basket, 

“I bet you’ll like Techno, he is part piglin like you are,” Ranboo says, talking fondly to the little piglin hidden under the jacket,

“I think that's a bit stereotypical of you Ranboo,” Tubbo states jokingly, a mischievous smile on his face, “Just because they’re both piglins doesn’t mean they’ll get along,”

“That’s not why I think they’ll get along, I think they’ll get along because Michael has a sword and is no longer an orphan, which is all the standards that Techno has,” Ranboo says, smirking proudly when it surprises a laugh out of the two other ones,

“Oh my god, it really is,” Tubbo says, a hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh, 

“Tubbo your only standard for friendship is if they have a marginally good opinion on bees, you have no room to judge,” Ranboo says, Bad and Tubbo laughing harder at it.

Ranboo sighs in relief as they step under the porch of the house, exposed skin stinging slightly from rain and the humidity it brings,

They unlock the door and walk in, kicking off their shoes, setting down Michael’s basket so they can take their rain-soaked armor off properly.

They finally finish shucking off their chestplate, sighing contently from the lack of weight when Bad and Tubbo finally walk in, both walking slower than them and having much shorter legs, along with not being harmed by the rain, so they weren’t in as much of a rush.

As if on queue, Wilbur and Phil walk into the hallway from the kitchen, talking happily before noticing the three,

“Oh, whatcha got there mate?” Phil asks, spotting the basket with Ranboo’s jacket draped over it,

Michael starts babbling happily from the new noise, and Ranboo smiles nervously at the knowing look Phil gives them,

“We may or may not have adopted a child?” Ranboo says, chuckling nervously,

“You fuckin what?” Wilbur asks, sounding much more amused than mad but Ranboo can’t help the anxious pit of anxiety in their stomach growing, they’ve never been good at discerning anger from other emotions,

Wilbur walks over to the basket, pulling the slightly wet jacket from off of it and looking at the small toddler squirming around inside, babbling happily,

“Oh, it’s a little piglin!” Wilbur says, pulling the toddler out of the basket happily, “What’s his name?”

“We named him Michael!” Tubbo states proudly, “He had a chicken, but it ran off and died,”

“Are you gonna unzombify him?” Phil asks, offering one of his hands to the toddler who happily starts gnawing on one of his fingers, though not hard enough to hurt,

“You can do that? I thought they were unhealable,” Ranboo says, watching semi-anxiously as the two interact with the toddler,

“It’s pretty rare knowledge, took me a while to find, but you can, it will stop this rot from spreading,” Phil states, gesturing at the green parts of Michael’s skin,

“Does that hurt him?” Tubbo asks, sounding much more worried now with the knowledge it may be harmful, 

“It’s not painful, but eventually he’ll die from it,” Phil states honestly, looking up sympathetically when Ranboo makes a distinctly enderman noise of distress from it,

“Don’t worry, he still has quite a while before it’s worrying, if we heal him quickly than all this skin will probably even grow back, though the eye is probably unsaveable,” Phil assures, 

Ranboo sighs softly in relief, dropping to their knees and taking Michael softly from Wilbur, holding him close to their chest. Maybe it is a bit strange to be this attached already to the small child, but they can’t help it, the idea of Michael being taken away (or worse, dying) hurts their heart,

“I could probably pull out some of Fundy’s old baby stuff, great chance to embarrass him,” Wilbur offers, thinking back to the boxes full of old things,

“That’d be great! Then we can have cute little baby clothing for him!” Tubbo says excitedly, looking fondly at the little hybrid who is babbling happily, reaching up for Ranboo’s crown which they give over,

Ranboo nods in agreement, watching as Michael mouths at their crown, gnawing on the gold happily, “Yeah, some clothing would be good, he’s probably getting cold out of the nether,”

Wilbur nods, standing to go dig through storage for the boxes of clothing, Phil following, saying something about finding some of Wilbur’s baby clothing, chuckling when Wilbur groans in response.

Ranboo watches happily as Michael toddles around on the living room floor, struggling to stay on his feet for more than a few seconds without holding onto something and falling onto his front, the toddler laughing happily every time,

He is wearing new clothing, a cute little pink sweater that apparently was from baby Techno (which Ranboo and Tubbo found entirely too amusing) and some cute little baby trousers, all the clothing is so so small and just makes everything so much more adorable,

Ranboo looks up from were they are watching Michael to see Techno walk into the room, catching sight of the toddler and pausing,

“Why is there an orphan in the house?” He asks, staring as the piglin toddler trips over his own feet and goes tumbling to the floor, shrieking with laughter,

“That’s not an orphan, he’s our son!” Tubbo yells, dashing into the room from where he was in the kitchen warming up some milk, 

“Our?” Techno prompts, raising an eyebrow at the teen, holding a bottle of milk in hand and hair slightly more tousled than usual,

“He’s also my son,” Ranboo states, gesturing to where Michael has gone back to mouthing at their crown happily, apparently one of his favorite toys now,

Techno sighs, “and the others are okay with this?” He asks, leaning against the wall casually,

“Phil supported it! He even got out some of the old baby stuff,” Tubbo says happily, walking over and giving the bottle of milk to Michael, who struggles to figure out how the bottle works and instead just playing around with it,

Techno sighs again, walking over and taking the bottle softly, adjusting Michael slightly so he is in a better position before starting to feed him instead of just expecting him to know how to use the bottle by himself, “I guess I won’t get rid of him, you know, because he’s not an orphan,”

“Of course,” Ranboo says amusedly, watching as Techno feeds the toddler so gently, seeming to not even want to touch the child in fear that he’ll hurt him,

Tommy stomps in not long after Techno leaves to get rid of the now empty bottle, slightly soaked with water and clearly annoyed,

“Big T! Tommyinnit! Come meet our son!” Tubbo says, gesturing happily over to the toddler,

Tommy looks over, confusion quickly replacing the frustration, “What the fuck, when did we get another kid?” He asks, walking over,

“Just earlier today, actually, we had a rescue mission!” Tubbo chirps, watching Michael try and fail to walk again,

Tommy walks over, picking up the toddler under the arms and holding him out with arms extended, studying the little piglin,

“That is not how you hold a toddler,” Ranboo whispers, but doesn’t stop Tommy, much too amused,

“I am going to be the favorite uncle,” Tommy states, “He’s so fucking cute,”

“Fuck!” Michael repeats back, swinging his little legs in the air,

“NO!” Tubbo and Ranboo shriek at the same time, causing the toddler to shriek-laugh again,

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Michael repeats happily,

“Oh my god his first word was a curse, I am a terrible father,” Ranboo whines, laying down completely on the floor, hands covering their face,

“Hey, this is no one but Tommy’s fault!” Tubbo argues, pointing an accusatory finger at the blonde,

“This is so poggers,” Tommy states, smiling mischievously at the child still repeating the curse,

“Pog!” Michael repeats back happily,

“Pog!” Tommy repeats again, both going back and forth,

“This is the nether, holy cow,” Ranboo whispers, laughing weakly as their soulmate and their son repeat words at each other,

“At least they’re getting along?” Tubbo suggests, waiting to yell at Tommy if he tries to teach any more curses,

“At least,” Ranboo repeats, laughing again as Tommy tries to teach Michael to say ‘women’, which Michael seems to struggle with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of this was inspired by how my little brother was when he was a toddler, because Michael has very little canon personality
> 
> Oh also to specify because of the 'get player data' part, if a mob is raised (as a human) by players or in other circumstances, they can get player data and actually be players (with inventories, coms, etc) instead of just being mobs.


	23. Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Tubbo get planktonically married (for tax benifits)

Ranboo blinks away from a dream with XD to the sound of Michael whining, he doesn’t really cry, hasn’t since he got here, so Ranboo mostly took care of him, being such a light sleeper came in handy,

He sighs, sitting up and looking over at the crib, originally they were gonna place it against a wall but Michael preferred being closer so it is next to their bed now,

Michael whines, reaching out for them, eyes just a bit teary,

“Shhh, it’s okay honey,” Ranboo cooes, lifting the toddler out of the crib and pulling him into their arms, “Did you have a bad dream?”

The toddler doesn’t respond, just whining and reaching out to them further, they cradle the little hybrid in their arms,

They shush the baby softly, laying down back on their bed and setting the toddler next to them, Michael holding on tight to their shirt, but slowly settling, his keratin covered fingers poke a little into Ranboo’s chest but they can’t find it in themself to mind as the toddler dozes off.

Ranboo sighs contently, running a hand along the soft, thin fur on Michael’s head, the toddler doesn’t stir, just snuggling closer in his sleep, a handful of Ranboo’s shirt still held tight in hand,

They close their eyes, letting themself fall back into sleep.

Their next awakening is calmer, blinking awake to morning light shining through a window, Michael is rolled over, laying on Jjjjjjjjeffrey with Enderpearl and Enderchest curled up around him,

They smile, carefully sliding out of the bed to not disturb the four of them, trusting that the cats could make sure Michael doesn’t roll off of the bed while they look away for a second, carefully pulling out an outfit for the two of them and setting Michael’s out for when he wakes up, changing into their own quickly,

While they wait for Michael to wake up they write in their memory book, mostly about their talks with XD the night before and checking over what they did the day before, not much apparently, most of their days have been taken up by caring for Michael, 

Not that they mind, quite the contrary, they’ve pretty much had to be dragged away from the toddler since they got him, it’s not their fault that Michael is so cute, if they weren’t aware of how much it’d be harmful they’d probably lock him in an obsidian box for safety, so instead they are left with coddling the piglin excessively,

Phil says it probably comes from their enderman side, apparently enderman are similarly protective of their young, when they brought up that they’d never seen a baby enderman (besides themself, they guess) Phil answered ‘exactly’, which they guess solves that.

They look up when they hear Michael shifting, looking over to find the toddler waking up slowly, rolling over onto Enderpearl’s tail and causing her to get up, meowing angrily but not doing anything to the child, Ranboo raised her better than that,

“Hi Michael,” Ranboo hums softly, the toddler turning to them tiredly, 

“Boo,” The toddler whines, making grabby hands at them and making them chuckle,

“Yes, boo,” Ranboo responds, picking up the toddler under the arms, “Let’s get you dressed and then we can go eat, okay?”

The toddler babbles happily, letting Ranboo change him into a yellow and black shirt (that used to be Tubbo’s apparently, it’s adorable) and some blue overalls,

“There you go, all dressed up,” They say, smiling proudly at the babbling toddler, lifting him up again,

They carry him downstairs, smiling at the noise of chatter as they approach the dining table, they can feel that Niki and Tommy are already awake, random flashes of happiness or annoyance hitting them,

They don’t think they’ll ever get used to feeling other people's emotions.

Dream and Tommy are already arguing, both never seem to run out of topics to start arguments about, the rest of the table ignoring them with varying levels of politeness. Niki and Puffy are talking quietly, smiles on their faces. The fiances are all up, Quackity and Sapnap fueling the flames of Tommy and Dream’s argument while Karl eats, blissfully not paying attention to it. Tubbo is also there, watching with amusement.

Tubbo waves when they walk in, lighting up when he sees the toddler,

“Michael!” Tubbo says, getting up and taking the toddler from Ranboo and twirling around, the toddler laughing happily,

“Bee, Bee!” Michael yells happily, kicking out his little hooved feet happily, 

“Michael, Michael!” Tubbo repeats back, “How’d you sleep!”

The toddler babbles happily, and Tubbo acts very interested in the story as Ranboo slips past to their own seat. Tubbo sets Michael in his lap at his own seat, nodding enthusiastically to Michael’s babbles,

Phil walks in from the kitchen, somehow managing to balance three plates in his two hands, setting down two in front of Tubbo, one of them for Michael, and sliding one across the table to them, “G’morning!”

“Thank you, good morning,” Ranboo says, watching in amusement as Michael immediately tries to smack his little baby hand into the middle of his waffle, being narrowly stopped by Tubbo,

“Thanks dadza!” Tubbo yells at Phil’s retreating figure, desperately trying to stop Michael from his quest to get a handful of syrupy waffle, “Michael please I will feed you just don’t use your hands,”

“Bee!” Michael yells angrily, squirming in Tubbo’s grip, and Ranboo has to smack a hand over their mouth to muffle their laughter and not encourage the toddler,

Tubbo looks at them in betrayal, holding onto Michael’s arms to stop him from smacking the plate,

“Ranboo, please help, he listens to you,” Tubbo pleads, Michael still squirming,

“No, this is funny,” Ranboo says, putting a bite of waffle in their mouth,

Tubbo glares at them, narrowing his eyes, “Ranboo I want a divorce,”

Ranboo sputters on their bite of food, only managing to not choke on it by being hit on the back by Sam, 

“Wh-when did we get married?!” Ranboo sputters, still coughing lightly from almost choking,

“You two got married?” Schlatt asks, voice still slurring with tiredness as he stands at the doorway to the dining room, clearly just arrived,

“Well not anymore, they refuse to help me with Michael, so we’re divorced,” Tubbo says, crossing his arms, Michael in his lap copying the action, 

“Oh my god,” Ranboo laughs, covering their mouth with their palm. Tubbo pouts harder, Michael looking up at him and then copying the expression,

“How come they’re already married and you three are still fiances?” Wilbur jests, kicking one of Quackity’s ankles under the table,

“Hey! It’s not been that long!” Quackity snaps, swiping back at Wilbur’s feet,

“Well, I have all the time in the world,” Karl jokes, Ranboo blinks a bit at it, the other seem to get it, maybe they just forgot something,

Wilbur and Quackity ignore the response, swiping at each other with their feet, falling into a game of footsie under the table, accidentally kicking several other people in the process,

“Hey, quit it,” Techno growls, swiping at the two’s feet after getting kicked, much too tired for this,

Wilbur looks at him mischievously, deliberately kicking him under the table.

Techno stomps on his foot.

Wilbur yelps in pain, dragging his legs back to himself, glaring at him, “You fucker!’

“Techno, please don’t break your brothers foot at breakfast,” Phil sighs, bringing the last few plates in and setting them on the table, handing them out to people who have joined during the fight,

“I don’t even have my boots on yet,” Techno grumbles but doesn’t continue, eating through his own food,

Tubbo looks up from where he has managed to start feeding Michael, “Hey Ranboo, you wanna hang out today? Tommy is watching Michael,”

“Sure but you have to undivorce me,” Ranboo says, taking another bite of their own food to hide their smirk at Tubbo’s offended look,

“Fucking what?” Tommy says, finally distracted from his argument with Dream,

“We’re getting married,” Tubbo says, explaining absolutely nothing,

“Fucking _what_?” Tommy repeats, looking between the two incredulously,

“You heard me,” Tubbo says, feeding Michael his next bite and pretending to ignore Tommy,

“It’s too early for this,” Tommy groans, putting his face in his hands,  
“Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever heard Tommy ‘annoying child’ Innit think someone else was doing stuff ‘too early’” Dream mocks, pointing a fork at Tommy,

“I’m not a fucking child you bitch! I’m a bigger man than you’ll ever be!” Tommy yells, going right back to his argument with Dream while Tubbo and Ranboo try to hold back laughter,

Ranboo follows after Tubbo, not needing to rush to keep up with the much shorter man, even though Tubbo is half-running,

“Hurry up Ranboob!” Tubbo says, laughing as he hops over a log,

Ranboo sighs, stepping over it, only a few feet behind,

“I still don’t get why we couldn’t have just taken the path,” Ranboo says, complaining lightly,

“Because this is faster!” Tubbo yells back, waiting a few seconds for Ranboo to generally catch up before running off again,

“I doubt that,” Ranboo grumbles, they’re pretty sure the added travel time of having to avoid trees, stray logs on the floor that no one took the time to pick up, roots and other things, that it is longer, 

Tubbo breaks through the tree line into the small flowery clearing, Ranboo following him

“Spinz! Spunz! My children!” Tubbo yells happily, the bees floating over to greet him, bumping into his face,

“Hey, we aren’t adopting them too,” Ranboo says teasingly, swiping at Tubbo’s legs with their tail as they pass, walking over to the small area here they made flower crowns with Tubbo and Tommy before and sitting down there,

Tubbo joins them after a bit, plopping down across from them in the grass, laying across it instead of sitting up, staring at the clouds,

“Hey Ranboo,” Tubbo says, his voice a bit more serious, “Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure,” Ranboo responds, shifting nervously in their spot, not really knowing what Tubbo is going to say,

“Do you believe in soulmates?”

Ranboo blinks, looking at the pink star-like mark branded very obviously across Tubbo’s face and back to his eyes a few times, hoping he gets the message,

Tubbo glares at them with no malice, smacking their leg softly, “Not like that, like, do you think it’s really a fate thing? That there are just some random people you are magically supposed to be together with?”

“Well,” Ranboo starts, running a hand along the grass, the texture soothing them, “I think that there are people meant for you, and I have outlines to show it, maybe it’s not always good, but there is still always someone,”

Tubbo drops his seriousness, actually more of hides it, putting a grin on his face “Awwwww,”

“Do you?” Ranboo asks, tilting their head curiously,

“Do I what?” Tubbo responds, though Ranboo doubts he actually misheard them,

“Do you believe in soulmates,” Ranboo specifies anyways, tail lashing behind them,

Tubbo looks over at them, and for a second they think he’s actually gonna respond seriously, “You better not be hitting on me,”

Ranboo flushes, groaning and throwing their head back, shoving themself onto their feet, “That’s it i'm leaving, i'm leaving!” They say, walking away in quick steps as they hear Tubbo laugh behind them,

Tubbo gets up to chase after them, laughing as they stomp with their arms crossed, “Noooooo my beloved, don’t leave me!” Tubbo jokes, finally catching up and throwing his arms around Ranboo’s middle, stopping them with his strength that Ranboo still deems unnatural,

It feels a little like they’re shocked with electricity, to be honest, the sensation going up their spine and making them wince, but they don’t try to pull away, if anything their body leans slightly into Tubbo’s,

They process the situation slowly, pulling away after a moment and turning to look at the shorter man,

Gladly, the mark doesn’t go across his entire face, a bit on the top of his hair and the tips of his horns were they dug into Ranboo’s back, mostly on his arms and front were he had thrown himself into Ranboo’s back,

“How do you feel about dyed hair?” Ranboo asks nervously, staring at the boy marked red and green,

Tubbo stares down at the marks were they are visible on his arms, awe on his face, before looking up at them, absolutely _giddy_

“I KNEW I WAS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITES!” He shouts, throwing himself into Ranboo’s arms again, this time succeeding in knocking them over, sending them both tumbling to the ground laughing.

“Tommy is gonna be so jealous,” Tubbo says, and even though Tubbo’s face is hidden in their shoulder they can hear the smile in his voice, 

“Maybe of me,” Ranboo states, they can feel the unbridled joy off of Tubbo, even though it would probably be noticeable even if they didn’t now have a soulbond,

“Nah, he bragged for fucking hours about getting your first soulmark, being your favorite or whatever, I almost punched him,” Tubbo says, Ranboo raises a brow at it, amusement on their face even though Tubbo can’t see it,

“Tubbo, were you jealous?” Ranboo crows, laughing when he feels Tubbo flush, punching him in the shoulder, from their position it really doesn’t do much,

“Shut up.”

“Tommy!!” Tubbo yells, dragging Ranboo into the house behind him,

Tommy rounds the corner with Michael in his arms, stopping and staring when he sees the new red and green marks clear on Tubbo’s head and arms,

“What the fuck!” He yells, pointing at the both of them,

“We got soulmarked,” Tubbo sings, throwing open his arms to show more of his mark,

Tommy stares at them before looking at Michael, picking him up and holding him out, leaning in close like he’s talking to the toddler, “Michael I think they’re replacing me,”

Both of them laugh, “No Tommy, we’re not replacing you,” Tubbo says, voice slightly teasing,

“Oh my god they’re replacing me,” Tommy whispers again in horror, the toddler he’s talking to laughing at his performance,

“Tommy, what are you doing?” Dream asks, Ranboo turning quickly to find him leaned up against the railing of the stairway, they wonder how he walked down it so quietly,

“Dream, look!” Tubbo shouts happily, gesturing to the new soulmark,

“Oh, cool,” Dream says, sounding a tiny bit surprised as he moves closer to study the mark, he turns to Ranboo and they do their best to not freeze in place, “You’re really speedrunning the soulmarks dude,”

Ranboo sputters and Dream laughs at them, a kettle-wheeze that XD doesn’t have, one of the few separations between them, Dream pats them on the shoulder before walking past to the living room

“Well, I’ll leave the clingy trio to it,” Dream says and Tommy turns to yell at him,

“We’re a clingy duo!” He yells after Dream’s retreating form,

“I don’t know who is being excluded,” Ranboo whispers to Tubbo, leaning slightly to the shorter man,

“Yeah me neither,” Tubbo whispers back, both snickering,

“What the fuck are you two laughing about,” Tommy hisses, though both can feel he’s not actually angry, Tommy glares at them for a second before sighing, “Fine, we’re a trio, we’re gonna be the best goddamn trio here!”

“I don’t think either of us even asked-” Ranboo starts before being stopped by Tommy one-handedly dragging Tubbo and Them,

“Come on, bitches, we have crimes to commit!” Tommy yells, probably selling all of them out instantly,

Ranboo huffs, curse their lack of backbone.

That night after a few pranks and all but Tommy getting away with it they move to split from Tubbo to go to their rooms, Michael already half-asleep balanced on their hip, but wince at the idea of pulling their hand away from Tubbo’s, it makes their skin crawl uncomfortably even though he’d just be a room away,

“Hey Tubbo, can we have a sleepover in one of our rooms tonight?” Ranboo asks, shifting their weight from side to side uncomfortably, “It’s fine if you don’t want to! It’s just the new mark and-”

“Oh yeah, this is your third so the clinginess is stronger huh?” Tubbo asks, cutting them off from their rambling, and they nod, “Okay, can we do it in yours though? My room is a bit of a mess,”

Ranboo nods, sighing in relief that Tubbo agreed,

“I’m gonna go get changed, I’ll meet you in your room in a second,” Tubbo says, smiling reassuringly at them as they release Tubbo’s hand, him going quickly to his own room while they go to theirs, quickly changing into their own night clothes and then working on changing Michael,

Tubbo knocks on the door a few moments later, opening it and peaking in to make sure they’re not still changing before walking in, he’s wearing a pair of bee-themed pajamas (one pair of many) and it is honestly quite cute,

“Hey bee,” Ranboo greets softly, picking up the toddler now in pajamas,

“Hey boo,” Tubbo greets back, walking up and bumping his head against Ranboo’s arm, apparently it’s a friendly goat thing so they smile, giving him a soft enderman chirp back as they walk to their bed,

They put Michael in the middle of them instead of in his crib, deciding that since there is no chance of him rolling off that he should be allowed to join them, an arm each crossing over the toddler so they can touch each other, Ranboo’s tail curled around Tubbo’s calf,

Tubbo looks up at the taller hybrid to say goodnight, blinking in surprise when he sees glowing eyes,

“Ranboo did you know your eyes glow?” Tubbo asks, staring in amazement at the heterochromic eyes,

“Oh, do they?” Ranboo asks, bringing a hand up to their face so they can see the light shining onto it, “Pog,”

“That’s so cool,” Tubbo hisses, giggling softly, “You’re very cool Ranboo,”

“Oh- Well, thank you,” Ranboo stutters, flushing when Tubbo laughs softly at them,

“You’re welcome,” Tubbo hums, closing his eyes and focusing on the sound of Michael’s quiet oink-like snores,

“Hey Tubbo, were you joking about the marriage thing?” Ranboo asks after a few moments, 

Tubbo blinks his eyes open again, “Yeah I guess, were you?”

“I don’t know,” Ranboo admits, “I don’t like, like you like that, but it’s just, ugh,” Ranboo scoffs, “Confusing,”

“It’s fine big man, I get it,” Tubbo assures, “We could do it for tax benefits, and we’d beat the fiances in getting married, I bet they’ll be pissed,”

“More of mildly annoyed, but sure,” Ranboo says, chuckling, “But I don’t want everyone to think we’re like, together,”

“We could do it like plankton,” Tubbo says,

“Like,,,,, plankton?” Ranboo repeats, confusion clear in their voice,

“Yeah, like as friends,” Tubbo explains, voice a little hazy from tiredness,

“Tubbo, Tubbo,” Ranboo says, voice still quiet to not awaken the sleeping toddler but absolutely giddy, “Do you mean platonically?”

Tubbo blinks, eyes opening up, actually awake again, “Oh shit,” He says, “Forget that happened memory boy, forget the plankton,”

Ranboo laughs softly, “No, I’m gonna remember and I’m gonna tell everyone tomorrow you wanted us to get married like _plankton_ ,” Ranboo says, smiling brightly,

“You’re evil Ranboo, why do I like you so much,” Tubbo says, voice trailing off as his eyes close,

“Uh, Tubbo?” Ranboo says and the boy doesn’t stir, staying asleep, they sigh fondly, “Goodnight Tubbo,”

They close their eyes and doze off themself, surprisingly, they have no dreams of XD.

It is a few days after and they are home alone taking care of Michael, the clinginess from the mark cleared up into just the usual clinginess that they had for Tubbo, which is good since they can only handle so much of Tubbo’s shenanigans,

“Come on Michael, walk to Boo,” Ranboo instructs, the toddler struggling to stand up from the floor, toddling towards them before tripping, the floor is soft with carpet so he doesn’t get hurt, more frustrated than anything,

“Come on, you can do it!” Ranboo encourages, the toddler huffing and trying again, standing up and walking towards them with unsure steps, falling into their arms,

They cheer, hugging the toddler to their chest, “You did it Michael! You walked! Soon you’ll be running!” They say, smiling brightly,

“He learns fast,” Ranboo hears Dream’s voice say and whips around, looking for the masked man and finding no one there,

“You’re not going to find me,” The voice says again and they continue looking, it sounds strange, not exactly like Dream’s, a bit like if someone else talked using Dream’s voice if that made sense,

There is only one person who sounds like that,

“XD?” Ranboo whispers, not wanting to believe it, refusing to believe it, no it was just Dream playing a prank, he’s gonna appear after using an invisibility potion any second now and laugh at how dumb they’re being,

“Yep, I didn’t expect you to guess so fast,” XD says and they continue looking in a circle, XD doesn’t even appear, just an empty room with them and a toddler who seems increasingly confused,

“B-but you’re fake, you’re just in my dreams why can I hear you?” Ranboo says, bringing up a hand to pinch their arm and feeling it, so this is real, this is all real,

“I told you before I’m not just in your dreams Ranboo,” XD says, it doesn’t sound malicious but if anything that makes them more scared,

“But you’re fake, you’re fake I made you up because my memory is shit and I couldn’t handle just remembering,” Ranboo says, was breathing always this hard? They don’t think it was,

“I told you before I’m not fake, I thought you didn’t believe that anymore,” XD states, and they can almost imagine him crossing his arms and flinch away from an invisible, not-physical person, bringing up a hand to clutch a handful of their shirt over their chest, they can feel their heartbeat against their knuckles,

“You’re fake, you’re fake, you’re fake you’re fakeyou’refakeyou’refakeyou’refakeyou’refakeyou’refakeyou’refakeyou’refake,” Ranboo repeats, lowering down to the ground and curling around themself, they’ve actually gone insane, was any of this even real? Was their son and their soulmarks and their friends and a family they’ve been accepted into even real? Did they imagine all of this? Were they gonna wake up on Hypixel to spilling more blood and more games that ended in being stabbed and dragging themself back to their dorm to patch themself up? 

“Woah Ranboo calm down, you need to breathe, I am not going to do anything,” XD says and he sounds a bit worried but none of it processes, nothing processes.

“Stop it stop talking get out of my head stop it you’re fake,” They next to beg, hands reaching up to grab clumps of their hair and yanking, claws digging into their skull,

“Okay, okay! You need to calm down though okay Ranboo? You are panicking, you need to breath,” XD says, voice soothing and they almost scream, sobbing into their knees, tears scorching their face,

“Ranboo, Ranboo, shit, Ranboo you need to breathe, someone is coming,” XD says and they cry harder, breath falling faster and they are unable to stop it,

They vaguely hear Michael crying, the feeling of a little hand trying to shake them out of it and a sob of ‘Boo, Boo, Boo’ but they can’t move to try to help him, they can’t even try, everything is far and distant and they see black filling the edges of their vision.

They pass out.

Tubbo is out with Tommy and Dream hunting when they feel that something is wrong, deep into their bones and the pit of their soul,

He looks at the two, who are arguing over something petty like always and almost screams, frustration bubbling up that he doesn’t know where it’s from, followed by sadness and then anxiety and than nothing at all,

“Guys, Guys,” He whispers, panicked, he knows what random emotion flashes mean, he’s not stupid,

Neither respond, apparently not hearing him, 

“Guys!” He says, louder now, and both heads snap to him, he guesses he doesn’t get panicked often,

“I think Ranboo’s in trouble,” They say, keeping his voice from whimpering too much even though he kinda feels like breaking down right now, a lot of emotions that aren’t even his thrown onto him all at once,

Tommy pauses, apparently trying to feel his own bond before hissing angrily through his teeth, grabbing the few things he threw on the ground looking through his inventory and stuffing them into his bag, “We need to go now, I think he passed out,”

“What.” Dream asks, voice stock serious with worry and both rush off back towards the house, Dream following close behind.

Tubbo next to slams the door open, hearing Michael’s cries from the living room and complete silence, not the sound of Ranboo comforting him, hell, Michael barely cries in the first place, something is _wrong ___

__He runs into the living room, eyes widening at the sight of his soulmate (his husband) passed out on the floor, curled up like they were protecting themself when they passed out but limp from being unconscious, he winces at the sight of new burn marks on their cheeks,_ _

__He goes and picks up Michael first, he is definitely not the one to be able to help Ranboo and Dream is a few steps behind, so Michael is his business,_ _

__“Hey, it’s okay, Boo will be okay,” He soothes, more to himself than to the toddler but it certainly helps, Michael sniffling into his neck as he watches Dream and Tommy carry Ranboo to the medical room._ _

__He hopes Ranboo is okay, end and aether he hopes._ _


	24. Coddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo is sick of being coddled like a child.
> 
> Also, he learns to teleport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General TW for this chapter as I am too tired to specify in any understandable way, so be careful! :>

Ranboo whines softly when they wake up, they feel pretty much like they’ve been hit over the head with a hammer a few times, and then hit everywhere else, their skin and bones ache uncomfortably,

They blink their eyes open and instantly regret it, wincing when the lights just add to their headache, curling in on themself so that less of it hits their face,

“Oh, you’re awake,” They hear a voice like Dream’s say and almost scream, curling up further if they can,

“No no go away you’re fake,” Ranboo hisses, hands coming up to pull at their hair again,

“I’m not fake?” The voice says and they look up, even though it intensifies the pain about one-hundred-fold and see Dream actually there, his mask the normal smiley instead of XDs mask.

They probably should be more panicked about just having called Dream not real but they aren’t, everything feels dull and distant, they’re still not sure any of this is even real. They tuck their face back into their knees to escape the pain that the lights bring,

“Uh, okay,,,,” Dream says, they can hear him sit down again, this feels familiar but they don’t know how, they hear the clicking of Dream writing something onto a communicator but don’t care to find out what, “Are you feeling alright?”

“Everything hurts,” Ranboo says, sounding more whiny than they wanted to,

Dream winces, “Okay, I’ll grab you a regen potion, it will also help with the burns,”

They nod, wondering what ‘the burns’ are until their cheeks rub against the fabric of their pants and they wince, it irritating them,

Ah, those burns.

Dream leaves the room to get a potion and they wait, ear twitching when they hear footsteps approaching,

“Ranboo Nihachu! You scared the shit out of me!” Tommy yells, slamming the door open and irritating their headache further, making them whimper into their legs as they curl up more, “Oh,”

“Ranboo Nihachu?” They ask weakly,

“Yeah, you’re Niki’s sibling and her last name is Nihachu,” Tommy says, voice noticeably quieter as he steps towards the bed,

“No, my last name is Beloved,” Ranboo says, shaking their head,

“But you two are family, you should have the same last name!” Tommy argues, sitting in the seat that Dream occupied originally,

“Okay Tommy ‘Danger’ Innit, Son of Philza Minecraft-Watson, brother of Wilbur Soot and Techno Blade,” Ranboo quips, looking up at Tommy from their knees, wincing when the light hits their eyes,

Tommy sputters, “That’s different,”

“It literally is not,”

“Shut up, bitch,” Tommy says, crossing his arms and they smirk, they can tell he isn’t actually angry, “So what, your name is Ranboo Beloved?”

They nod and Dream walks back in, blinking at Tommy,

“They just woke up, why are you already annoying them?” Dream sighs, handing them the regeneration potion, half watered-down, something about it annoys them, they’re not a baby, they can handle a regeneration potion without getting sick, 

They don’t say anything about it, sipping through the potion, but they see Tommy look at them in confusion when he feels anger through the soulmark, it almost makes them a bit angrier, they can’t even keep their emotions to themself,

“Do you remember what happened big man?” Tommy asks after a few moments, shockingly worried,

“What do you mean?” They ask, finishing the potion and handing the empty bottle back to Dream, who takes it,

“We found you passed out on the living room floor, we were wondering if you knew how that happened since no one else was home besides Michael, who can’t tell us much,” Dream says, leaning against the wall next to the door and crossing his arms, they stop themself from tensing up at the action, feeling shockingly trapped in the small room,

They frown, looking away from the two, “I just had a panic attack and passed out,” They explain, omitting the voice, it’s easier to ignore it than it is to admit its existence,

“That’s worrying, since you’ve been passed out for about 15ish hours now,” Dream states,

“What?” They ask, it seems about the same time as yesterday, though there is no clock, so they can’t really tell,

“You passed out and slept through dinner to the next day, it is currently just a bit after breakfast,” Dream explains, 

“Oh,” They answer softly, staring down at the sheets, it doesn’t feel like that long should’ve passed but maybe it did, tracking time has never been something they’re good at,

“You should take it easy for a few days, stay inside just incase anything happens so you don’t pass out while mining or something, we’ll have someone here to make sure nothing happens,” Dream says, “Do you want some food?”

“I’m not hungry,” They state, pushing the blankets off of them and standing up, they feel sluggish and tired but also much too awake for comfort, they feel a bit like they’re on the edge of a cliff and they’re gonna fall off into realizing what just actually happened to them any second now,

Any second,

“Where's Michael?” They ask, they feel guilty for passing out in front of the toddler, they hope he isn’t too worried by it,

“Oh, he’s with Techno right now, I can bring you to them,” Tommy says, relieved to be able to escape the conversation, he doesn’t like thinking a recent soulmate of his could be sick or something, he prefers not to think of that possibility,

Tommy leads Ranboo quickly past Dream before the masked man can complain, dragging him to the living room were Michael is sitting with Techno on the floor, playing with the mans long pink hair,

Michael looks up at them and shrieks happily, toddling up from near Techno and towards them, much faster than they expected,

“Boo! Boo! Boo!” Michael shrieks, almost falling on his face before being scooped up by Ranboo, hugging the toddler gently but tightly,

“Hey Michael,” They coo happily, rubbing their cheek against Michael’s. He snorts happily back, 

Ranboo hears Techno’s little ‘heh?’ of surprise and looks over confused,

“Since when could he walk?” Techno asks, sounding genuinely surprised, which translates to a normal person shrieking in shock,

“I was teaching him actually before I,” They trail off, doing a circular motion with their wrist, “He is doing pretty good!”

“Yeah, actually we had questions about the,” Techno sarcastically copies the wrist movement they did and they wince, “What happened?”

“I had a panic attack and passed out,” They answer, a bit too quickly,

Techno raises a brow “Sure kid,” He says sarcastically, “You should go tell Niki and Tubbo, they both were worried,”

Their eyes widen, holding over the toddler to Techno, “Can you-?”

“Sure, go tell them you’re okay kid,” Techno says, taking Michael back even though the toddler whines a bit, snorting angrily, 

They nod, thanking him and running off to let their other two soulmates know they’re alive.

They get it honestly, they _get_ the worry and they _understand_ the concern and they _know_ why everyone is acting how they are, but if anything knowledge of why is what makes them all the more frustrated over it,

The first day they got it more, the questions of if they were okay during meal times and someone being in the room most of the time, but half a week later it was a bit much,

They’re not even allowed to watch Michael at bedtime anymore! Everyone says it's just for a bit, in case they pass out again, but it’s still their son! They are probably in a much better position to watch him than Tubbo who sleeps almost as deeply as George, the few times Michael wakes up Ranboo wakes up to him before Tubbo does anyways and hears the toddler through the walls, at this point it just adds an extra step to comforting him.

Maybe they snap at Tubbo when he comes in one night to take the toddler to bed after Michael is already asleep, they still feel bad for waking the toddler when they slammed the door after Tubbo, but they don’t apologize, they don’t come down for breakfast the next day after, and almost shriek in rage when they hear a knock at the door to check if they’re alright.

Can they not possible _sleep in_ without someone needing to know if they’re okay?

They’re pretty sure in total since they passed out from the stupid voice they remember all of ten hours over three to four days, almost none of it is good, just irritating things and petty comments that they can’t seem to hold back anymore and being _watched_ so often.

It all comes to it’s head when they’re watching Michael the next day, Sam apparently put on babysitting duty (even though everyone says that's not what it is), watching them while leaning against a wall,

The feeling of eyes on them is just too much, keeps distracting them from the words they’re trying to teach Michael, making them have to dig their nails into their knees through their pants to stop themself from turning around and yelling at him to get out,

Because that would be rude, and they have to be and because if they’re not they don’t know what will happen. Sure, they’ve seen others argue, but they’ve never been part of them, they aren’t as close to everyone here, sure, they have a few soulmarks, but not enough to be one of them,

Never enough to be one of them.

The eyes are still there, digging into them, judging their every move, the words they say to Michael and how they’re saying them, the way they fidget uncomfortably and the way their breath picks up and when they stop trying to teach the child, just staring vacantly at the confused little piglin,

“Ranboo?” Sam says, clearly worried, “Ranboo whats wrong?”

“Stop looking,” They demand, claws digging painfully into the skin of their thighs as they grit it out, teeth clenched tight,

“I wasn’t looking,” Sam says, a lie, a lie a lie a liar a liar a liarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliarliar

“Liar,” They hiss unthinkingly, ears flattening to their head, they hear Michael make a confused snort but don’t process it over the staticy rage going over them, “I can feel you looking,”

“What?” Sam says, having the audacity to sound hurt by the insult, “Ranboo, I understand if you’re angry, but we’re just worried for you, you’ve been really spacey recently and you passed out a few days ago-”

“Oh my GOD!” They yell, raising to their feet quickly and whipping around, looking the creeper hybrid in the eyes, “Could you all STOP treating me like a child for FIVE FUCKING SECONDS!”

They hear Michael make a noise of distress but remain firm, not pulling back their words even though they feel bad for distressing the toddler,

“Ranboo,” Sam says, voice soft and it hurts, an ache deep in their chest, “You need to calm down,”

They don’t want to be here at this second, they can’t handle the barely hidden coddling and being treated like they’re stupid, they can’t take it,

They feel like they are tugged from their place on the world and dragged somewhere else, it is not at all similar to an enderpearl, which feels a bit like flying and then hitting a wall, no, this is just a quick gentle tug that leaves them a bit dizzy and looking around to new surroundings,

They aren’t in the house anymore, with a quick check around they are a bit away from it, they place a hand on a tree to steady themself,

Holy shit they just teleported,

_Holy shit they just teleported,_

They push down the panic from doing that for a later date, figuring they’re gonna need to be farther from the house to get away for any large amount of time,

They close their eyes and take a deep breath in, focusing on how they teleported before,

It is not the want to be in a different location that works, no, they’ve tried that. It is the want to not be in the location they are currently in, the want to leave.

They feel the tug again and blink, looking around, they are farther in the forest, were it is thicker and they are less likely to be seen,

“Holy cow,” They whisper, excitement bubbling along with their anger, they can actually teleport, they weren’t blanking out, they can actually teleport,

They do it a few more times, actually trying to aim it is difficult, but they manage to not teleport directly next to someone, which is an achievement in their book,

They stop when they teleport directly next to a stream, they feel a bit like they’ve ran a marathon, breath coming hard from exertion and they sit down next to the creek, 

A lot of things hit them all at once, they guess this is what they get for repressing everything, random breakdowns were everything comes to them all at once and than nothing again,

They have soulmates in the first place that love them and have fulfilled soulmarks now, they have a voice in their head that sounds like their roommate who is also their soulmate’s soulmate (and possibly also their soulmate), they passed out when they heard this voice for the first time, they have been mean to almost everyone they live with because they were worried because they passed out, and, oh yeah, THEY CAN TELEPORT.

Most worrying on this list, they have possibly pissed off everyone they live with who have been nice to them and given them a home for no reason other than being worried,

They are at the same time, still pissed over being coddled more than the actual toddler in the household, they do not need to be watched over like a child, they lived for MULTIPLE YEARS on a battle server that was every person for themself just fine. They are mature and intelligent and most people don’t even assume they’re a minor when they first meet them.

That also hurts though, not being cared for, being left to fend for themself and treated like they don’t need help just because they could theoretically survive on their own.

They are stuck in the middle of hating being cared for and craving it, they hope no one asks about their issues and yet beg the stars that someone will, they want to be touched but sometimes hands feel like needles instead of flesh and everything is always just too much.

They are only aware of their own hiccuping sobs when the scorching burn of tears start, desperately trying to wipe them away,

“No, no, you can’t cry, crying just makes it worse, it just makes it worse, it doesn’t help,” They whisper to themself, furiously wiping away tears that form, blood also smearing along their hands now from the fresh burns reopening,

They wonder why they cry so much more now that they’re here, maybe it’s the whole processing thing, when out of the traumatic situation it hurts worse?

They don’t know.

They look up when a cold, a bit too sharp feeling hand rests on their head softly, whimpering under their breath,

An enderman stands there, they are not holding anything at the moment, just looking at them worriedly, both politely ignore eye contact with each other, neither wishing the other the pain of it,

“A∷ᒷ ||𝙹⚍ 𝙹ꖌᔑ|| ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷ 𝙹リᒷ? (Are you okay little one?)” The enderman asks, hand brushing through their hair softly,

They swallow, struggling a bit to go back into the language so much different then english, “||ᒷᓭ, ᓭ𝙹∷∷|| ᒷꖎ↸ᒷ∷ (Yes, sorry elder)” They whisper, wiping their eyes with their hand again,

“↸𝙹 リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ꖎ╎ᒷ, ╎ℸ ̣ ╎ᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ᔑ ⍊╎∷ℸ ̣ ⚍ᒷ (Do not lie, it is not a virtue)” They scold with no malice, touch remaining gentle,

“ᓭ𝙹∷∷||, ╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ⋮⚍ᓭℸ ̣ , ╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ⋮⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ↸╎⎓⎓╎ᓵ⚍ꖎℸ ̣ (Sorry, it’s just- it’s just difficult)” They say, choking a bit on the words,

“╎ℸ ̣ ╎ᓭ ᔑꖎ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷ 𝙹リᒷ, ℸ ̣ ᒷꖎꖎ ᒲᒷ ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ !¡ꖎᔑ⊣⚍ᒷᓭ ||𝙹⚍ (it is alright little one, tell me what plagues you.)” The enderman says, sitting down next to them, though noticeably farther from the water,

“ᒲ|| ⎓ᔑᒲ╎ꖎ||- ᒲ|| !¡ᔑᓵꖌ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リꖌᓭ i ᔑᒲ ᓭ╎ᓵꖌ ∴⍑ᒷリ i ᔑᒲ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ , ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ∴𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷᔑ⍊ᒷ ᒲᒷ ᔑꖎ𝙹リᒷ. (my family- my pack thinks I am sick when I am not, they won't leave me alone.)” They explain, rocking softly to soothe themself,

“╎ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ᔑリ ╎ᓭᓭ⚍ᒷ? (Is that an issue?)” The enderman asks truthfully, hand still carding through their hair softly,

“I ᒷリ⋮𝙹|| ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ╎∷ ᓵᔑ∷ᒷ, ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ i ᓵᔑリ ᓵᔑ∷ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ᒲ||ᓭᒷꖎ⎓. (I enjoy their care, but I can care for myself.)” They state, it is the best way they can explain it,

The enderman makes an understanding vwoop, “I ᓭᒷᒷ (I see)” They say, “||𝙹⚍ ⎓ᒷᒷꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ↸𝙹 リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ʖᒷꖎ╎ᒷ⍊ᒷ ╎リ ||𝙹⚍∷ ᔑʖ╎ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ╎ᒷᓭ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ᔑꖌᒷ ᓵᔑ∷ᒷ 𝙹⎓ ||𝙹⚍∷ᓭᒷꖎ⎓ ᔑリ↸ ⎓ᒷᒷꖎ ᓭ⚍⎓⎓𝙹ᓵᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ↸. (you feel that they do not believe in your abilities to take care of yourself and feel suffocated.)”

They nod, sighing in relief that at least someone gets it, even though they don’t really, “ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ∴𝙹⚍ꖎ↸リ'ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷᔑ⍊ᒷ ᒲᒷ ᔑꖎ𝙹リᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ᓵᔑ∷ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ᒲ|| ᓵ⍑╎ꖎ↸ ʖᒷᓵᔑ⚍ᓭᒷ ꖎᔑᓭℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷ i ↸╎↸ i !¡ᔑᓭᓭᒷ↸ 𝙹⚍ℸ ̣(they wouldn't leave me alone to even care for my child because last time I did I passed out)” They complain, tail swishing angrily at the memory,

The enderman makes an annoyed vwoop, though not directed at them, “⍑𝙹∴ ᔑʖᓭ⚍∷↸ (how absurd)”

They laugh humorlessly, nodding “I ꖌリ𝙹∴ ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ ? (I know right?)”

“⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ||𝙹⚍ ᓭ!¡𝙹ꖌᒷリ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ ᔑʖ𝙹⚍ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ (have you spoken to them about this?)” The enderman asks, making them wince,

“リ𝙹, i ⎓ᒷᒷꖎ i ᒲᔑ|| ⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ʖᒷᒷリ ∷⚍↸ᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ ʖᒷᓵᔑ⚍ᓭᒷ ╎ℸ ̣ ⎓∷⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ∷ᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ↸ ᒲᒷ. (no, I feel I may have been rude to them because it frustrated me.)” They admit, flushing a bit in shame,

The enderman nods, a distinctly human gesture that confuses them a bit, “I ⚍リ↸ᒷ∷ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑリ↸, ||𝙹⚍ ⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ↸𝙹リᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ᓭ 𝙹⚍ℸ ̣ 𝙹⎓ ⍑⚍∷ℸ ̣ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹⚍ℸ ̣ ꖌリ𝙹∴╎リ⊣ ⍑𝙹∴ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒷ ̇/!¡ꖎᔑ╎リ ||𝙹⚍∷ ᒷᒲ𝙹ℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リᓭ (I understand, you have done things out of hurt without knowing how to explain your emotions.)”

“A∷ᒷ ||𝙹⚍ ⎓∷╎ᒷリ↸ᓭ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ⍑⚍ᒲᔑリᓭ? (Are you friends with humans?)” They ask, a tiny bit rudely but they are interested, alright?

“I ᔑᒲ ⎓∷╎ᒷリ↸ᓭ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ||𝙹⚍∷ ʖ𝙹リ↸ᒷ↸, t⍑ᒷ bꖎ𝙹𝙹↸ g𝙹↸, ᒲ|| リᔑᒲᒷ ╎ᓭ Edward (I am friends with your bonded, The Blood God, my name is Edward,)” Edward states, “I ꖎᒷ↸ ⍑╎ᒲ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ||𝙹⚍ ∴⍑ᒷリ ||𝙹⚍ ⎓╎∷ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑ∷∷╎⍊ᒷ↸ (I led him to you when you first arrived.)

“𝙹⍑, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑリꖌ ||𝙹⚍ (oh, thank you),” They say, a bit surprised, “ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ ∴ᒷ ᔑ∷ᒷ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ʖ𝙹リ↸ᒷ↸ ||ᒷℸ ̣(but we are not bonded yet.)”

“||𝙹⚍ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ (you will be)” Edward says none to cryptically, “I ᒲ⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ⊣𝙹, ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑ|| ᓭᔑ⎓ᒷ ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷ 𝙹リᒷ, ╎リ⎓𝙹∷ᒲ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ 𝙹⎓ ||𝙹⚍∷ !¡ꖎ╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ , ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ∴╎ꖎꖎ ⚍リ↸ᒷ∷ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑリ↸. (I must go, stay safe little one, inform them of your plight, they will understand.)”

They nod, waving weakly as the enderman teleports away, a bit of the weight on their chest has been lifted, even if they are still annoyed, at least they better understand why that is.

They jump at the sound of crunching leaves approaching,

“There you are,” A familiar voice says and they turn to see Purpled standing there, his eyes glow a very faint green in the darkness of the forest and they choose to ignore it,

“Oh, uh, hi Purpled,” They say sheepishly, tail curling around their ankle anxiously, suddenly hyper aware of how wrecked they most likely look, “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Purpled explains but shockingly doesn’t pull out his communicator or run off to tell everyone, instead plopping down next to him, “Expected you to be farther, to be honest,”

“Am I really that close?” They ask, a bit fearful more people are going to appear,

“Eh, about a thousand out,” Purpled says with a shrug, “But you were teleporting, so I thought you’d go farther,”

“How did you even follow me?” They ask, some part of them paranoid their com is being tracked or something,

“Well, Enderman can only teleport 40 blocks, so I just searched in a circle around were you teleported from and found were you stopped, and then repeated until I got here,” 

“Uh, wow, I thought you just guessed,” They state honestly, surprised he thought it through that much,

He shrugs, “I just wanted to find you first to say I did, I’m not gonna bring you back,”

They snort, a bit of the anxiety fading, “‘The prize is winning’ and all that?”

“Exactly, anyways, I understand why you did, not completely but like, I get it,”

They raise an eyebrow, “Did Sam explain what happened?”’

“Nah, I was home and heard you yell,” Purpled explains, 

They flush, ears pressing flat to their skull, “Oh,”

“I get it, I guess, well I don’t get all of it because I’m not a goddamn mind reader, but like, the coddling is a lot sometimes,” Purpled says,

“I’m surprised you’re talking about this, you always seem so closed off,” They say, voice slightly whispering,

“Well so do you,” Purpled retorts and they hum in agreement, shifting their gaze to the flowing stream,

Purpled sighs, “You’re not allowed to tell anyone we did this, I will fight you,” He threatens with no malice and they nod seriously, mimicking zipping their mouth shut, “When I first got here from Hypixel it was from Punz, he’s my older brother, I think you could probably tell, we look a lot alike,” They nod in agreement, “We were separated from some things, our parents were shitty so we left and he went into mercenary business while I did Hypixel, and other less regulated battle servers,”

“He wasn’t aware of the Hypixel thing, we didn’t speak much, neither of us are really the talkative type, he found here while I was still on Hypixel, they only actually found out I was there from videos,”

They hum sympathetically, not cutting him off from his tangent, 

“I didn’t really get the trauma from the violence and stuff, or maybe it just hasn’t hit yet, I just got good at turning off the guilt, but I didn’t, and don’t, really trust people that much, emotional stuff just doesn’t work correctly and sometimes I’m just so fucking angry with no reason,”

They frown, they understand that feeling, they don’t know why particularly they were so angry about being coddled, usually it’d be annoying at best, but for some reason it made them fume in rage that now is all dissipated,

“I am still working on that I guess, Puffy got me a therapy with a friend of hers and that helps a bit, mostly because I can complain about the others,” He laughs softly, “I don’t know where I was going with this, but I get it, I also get where they’re coming from, they’re worried about you, I think you’re fine personally, well, not gonna keel over and die fine, definately not great, but you’re gonna have to explain this to them if you want them to back off, or they’re gonna double down,”

They sigh, resting their chin on their knees, “I know, it’s just hard to explain and it feels like they won’t understand anyways,”

“They might not,” Purpled states honestly, “But they’ll listen, and that’s the important part,” He pushes himself off the ground, stretching, “Anyways, I’m not your therapist so I’m leaving, but I’ll tell them to back off for a bit and stop looking for you okay?”

They nod, “Thank you, Purpled,”

He grins, giving them a short wave goodbye, “Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Purpled actually talking about emotions???? who is he.
> 
> I am very interested to see the poll results change after this chapter, I think it would be very funny.
> 
> ALSO EDWARD MY BELOVED IS BACK!!! I miss him every day, he lives in my heart and soul.


	25. Pillow Forts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and the other children make a 'no old people' pillow fort in the living room. Ranboo doesn't know why their head hurts so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have gotten some questions on the polls, I am going to answer them here!
> 
> "Are any of the new-ish people like Hannah or Foolish going to show up?" Answer, maybe? I don't really particularly have any idea how they'd show up currently? But if I find a way to slip characters in I absolutely will!
> 
> "Whats your favorite cake flavor?" Tirimasu!
> 
> This is a longer message so im not copying it in but I got asked for my hand in marriage again, yes definately.
> 
> "Add XD to the list you coward /j" He's already there! :)

Gladly, a bit of the overbearing coddling dies down after their little freak out over it, they think that a lot of it has to do with Purpled but can’t get proof of it, he just shrugs off any questions, so they just wordlessly thank him and move on, maybe they should give him a present or something, 

They still feel bad for yelling at Sam, they can tell he felt guilty for being the one that made them finally snap and run off, but don’t particularly feel ready to tell him they forgive him yet,

The thing more at the front of their mind in the following days isn’t even the others and if they’re coddling or not, they barely process that actually,

What they’re focused on is pain,

Their head hurts at two points, a bit back in their hair from their forehead on opposite sides, like a nail going through their skull into their brain,

They’ve had migraines before but never like this and never this long, almost a week of terrible stabbing pain. They refuse to tell the others and when asked just say it’s a small headache, they’re good at hiding the pain, avoiding the lights and wearing their glasses more often, it’s fine.

They sigh when they hear a knock at their door one night, the sound isn’t really that loud but irritates their migraine intensely,

They are pleasantly surprised that instead of one of the others checking if they’re not dead instead they see Tommy standing there, the sort of determined look on his face with a puffed chest, they get ready for him trying to pull them into some sort of mischief,

“Bring all your pillows and blankets to the living room, bitch,” Tommy commands,

They raise an eyebrow, “For what???” They ask slowly, 

“We’re making a pillow fort,” Tommy states, crossing his arms, “You’re joining us,”

“Us?” They ask softly but Tommy doesn’t respond, turning on his heel and stomping off,

“Hurry up with it!” He yells back and they sigh, briefly bringing a hand up to cradle their aching head as they go and grab some blankets and pillows, leaving one or two for their cats,

“Sorry guys,” They apologize softly to the cats, Enderpearl circling around one of their ankles confusedly and making them chuckle,

They take a step to leave their room before pausing, they could probably just teleport, it’s not that far so it won’t be as difficult to aim, right? And worse comes to worse they teleport outside, but it’s not raining or anything,

They focus, feeling the tugging, shifting feeling of teleportation and blinking as they look around the living room,

“Holy FUCK!” Tubbo yells, making them wince and resist the urge to hold their head again, “You scared me big man!”

“Sorry, sorry,” They apologize, setting down the pillows and blankets onto a nearby couch, 

“It’s fine but holy shit big man, warn me next time,” Tubbo says, putting a hand on his heart like he’s checking if it’s still beating,

They hear footsteps and turn to see Purpled and Tommy walk in, struggling varying amounts to carry a comical amount of pillows and blankets,

“Where's Michael?” They ask Tubbo, looking at the shorter man,

“Oh, Wilbur has him right now!” Tubbo says, smiling “He is playing guitar for him,”

“Aw,” They say softly, imagining the sight, “That’s cute,”

Tubbo nods before yelping as Tommy throws a pillow at him, hitting him directly in the face,

“We are going to make the best pillow fort this server has ever seen, and I’m gonna be the fuckin’ leader of it,” Tommy states seriously,

They stop themself from laughing because they are a kind and thoughtful soulmate, Purpled and Tubbo do not,

“Shut up you bitches and help me!” He yells at the two laughing children, tossing more pillows at them,

Ranboo instead of focusing on the pillow fight looks around the room, humming thoughtfully,

“We could move the couches to make a steadier foundation,” They think out loud, staring at some of the smaller couches that aren’t meant for 7+ people each,

“Ranboo, you are a fucking genius,” Tommy says, stepping away from the pillow fight to clap a hand on their shoulder, they resist the urge to flinch away from it, Tommy is safe, “You are now in charge of building,”

They flush a bit, ears flattening happily to their head, “No, that’s a bad idea, I’m bad at building,” They state, tail lashing slightly,

“I can help with building!” Tubbo chirps, knocking Purpled over the head hard enough that he staggers for a few steps and running over, rolling up his sleeves,

“Than it’s settled, Tubbo and Ranboo build, I oversee the project, and Purpled-”

“Does nothing unless I’m getting paid,” Purpled states, sitting down on one of the couches that most likely won’t be used and pulling out his communicator,

Ranboo rolls their eyes fondly and gets to work with Tubbo as Tommy yells at Purpled to no avail, sliding over smaller couches to make a base for the pillow fort, most of the work is admittedly done by Tubbo, who is frighteningly strong for being so small,

“There, now we can start with the blankets!” Tubbo says, proudly staring at the half circle of couches, “Help me put these up,”

They nod, following Tubbo’s command, mostly just an extra set of hands then actually doing anything, though they make sure to not use their weighted blanket, it would probably bring everything tumbling down and also they want to use it,

Tubbo makes sure the inside is big enough to fit the four of them and probably a few more if they squished (which is a challenge with how tall Ranboo is, but it is touching nonetheless), stuffing pillows in a circle for them to all lay on and then staring proudly at the finished product,

It looks quite comfortable actually, not particularly aesthetically pleasing, but like it could stand having four teenagers in it,

“Is it done?” Purpled asks from the couch, peaking over,

“Yep! I think so at least,” Tubbo says, circling it, looking for pieces that were out of place or were it’d collapse

“Pog!” Tommy says, sounding somehow prouder than Tubbo is even though he did virtually nothing, “We need to name it,”

“It’s a pillow fort, why do we need to name it?” Ranboo asks, their head throbbing painfully from his loud voice,

“Because we need to, bitch!” Tommy next to yells and they wince, they think he probably takes it as offence because he softens slightly, not sounding as mean, though they wish he’d just quiet down, “How about, uhhh, Tnret?”

“Tnret?” They ask, blinking,

“It’s like tent, I don’t know!” Tommy defends, laughing slightly and they smile back,

“Fine, Tnret it is,” They say, going in first,

They are glad there are no fairy lights or anything, the darkness is calming (especially for their headache) and they sigh in relief from being out of the normally not that bright lights of the living room that currently feel stabbing, situating themself in a corner of the pillow fort with their weighted blanket laid over their legs,

Purpled joins after, sliding past Tommy and Tubbo to sit next to them, still playing some game on his communicator,

They look over, watching him play, the screen is gladly on low light so it doesn’t burn their eyes as much, they can’t process the game but don’t really care to,

They blink, looking around again to find Tommy and Tubbo now in the pillow fort, Tommy is laid on one of Tubbo’s legs, talking animatedly about something, gesturing a lot with his hands while Tubbo nods to show he’s paying attention,

Everything feels slow, like they are sitting in tar, they twitch their finger and it reacts a few seconds later than they wanted it to, they stare at it confused,

Their head hurts quite bad, enough that they feel nauseous, not enough to actually puke but enough that they swallow down a burn in the back of their throat, staring down at the darkness of their blanket instead of the light coming from the entrance of the fort or the shine coming from Purpled’s communicator,

“Hey, no old people allowed, bitch!” Tommy yells at someone outside the fort, sitting up quickly to point at them, they wince at the yell, ears flattening against their head even though it barely muffles the noise,

“Who are you calling old, you fucking gremlin child?” Wilbur’s distinctive voice answers back, walking closer to the fort and kneeling to peak in, Ranboo smiles when he sees Michael in his arms, “Who do you even have in there?”

“No one, bitch!” Tommy says, kicking a leg out childishly, though clearly avoiding Michael, a wise decision, “Get out!”

“Oh fine,” Wilbur grumbles, standing to walk away, “Have fun in your child fort, you fucking gremlin child,”

“Oh piss off!” Tommy yells back and they let out an involuntary whine as the pain in their skull increases, bringing their hands up to cradle their skull,

It hurts so badly, spreading from two paints out, a sort of pounding pain like someone hitting them repeatedly on the head with a hammer, they have to blink away tears from going down their cheeks and only adding to the pain,

“-nboo? Are you there Ranboo?” Someone says and they whine again, leaning away as fingers snap in front of their face, “Sorry, you were spacing out,”

They look over, squinting slightly to block out the little light that is still in the fort.

Tubbo is the one who snapped them out of it, looking worriedly at them, Tommy and Purpled are also staring and the amount of eyes on them makes their skin crawl,

“Are you okay?” Purpled asks, sounding shockingly sincere,

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” They assure, convincing absolutely no one, 

“Ranboo you didn’t respond to any of us for like a minute, you can tell us if somethings wrong,” Tommy says, scooting closer but careful not to crowd them,

They go to answer but are cut off by another wave of pane, making them whine and curl up again, rocking slightly as they wait for it to stop,

“My head really hurts,” They mumble, cursing themself internally for how whiny and pathetic it sounds, 

“Oh, do you have a migraine big man?” Tubbo asks sympathetically, one of his hands going over Ranboo’s and rubbing over it soothingly, their bond momentarily sings of comfort and helps lessen the pain slightly,

They nod, the movement jostles their head more and makes them whimper,

“You should lay down, we’ll turn out the lights in the living room too,” Tommy says, standing to do said task while Tubbo helps them lay down on the pillows, 

“Can you tell me where it hurts on your head?” Tubbo asks, “Sometimes were it is means things, or whatever, that’s what Schlatt says whenever I get one,”

“T-two spots, on my head, here,” They say, bringing their hands up to hover over the spots but not touching, they tried touching them before but it was painful enough they almost screamed, so they’re not gonna try again, “Have for a few days,”

“Oh, _oh_ ,” Tubbo says, seemingly coming to some conclusion, probably one they won’t like by how his voice sounds, “Purpled, can you watch him while I get Schlatt?”

“Uh, sure, why?” Purpled asks, scooting closer to the curled up teen, game long since forgotten about,

“Just, just checking something, I might be wrong,” Tubbo says, not explaining absolutely anything as he runs off to get his father, leaving Purpled and Tommy to watch the hybrid.

Tubbo walks in quick steps to the kitchen, it is usually were Schlatt was after dinner, talking with other adults, sometimes over alcohol though he knows that he was cutting back currently and the others were kind enough not to do it in front of him,

As expected Schlatt is sitting at the table, talking with Phil and Wilbur, Michael sitting in Wilbur’s lap and waving a butter knife around happily, his sword was confiscated after he almost stabbed himself running around until he was ready to be ‘properly trained’ as Techno called it,

“Daaaaaddddd,” He whines, catching Schlatt’s attention quickly, he never called Phil ‘dad’, the man certainly cared for him but was never particularly a father, just a father figure, so the title stayed solely on Schlatt, 

“What happened?” Schlatt asks, he sounds worried but in the Schlatt-way were he sounds willing to murder their problems,

“We made a pillow fort but than Tommy yelled and it made Ranboo start making this noise like they were in pain so we asked them what was wrong and they said they had a migraine and I asked were it hurt and they said on these two spots on their head and I think they’re growing horns,” Tubbo says all in one breath, panting slightly after, “and I don’t know what to do,”

“Oh,” Schlatt answers, blinking slightly, apparently not guessing that was what he was going to say, “Do you want me to come check?”

He nods, apparently he looks worried enough that Schlatt stands immediately, turning to tell the other’s he’ll be back and being waved off quickly,

“Go check on the kid,” Phil says, smiling softly, “We’ll be here,”

Schlatt nods, following Tubbo back to the living room, raising a brow when Tubbo crawls into the blanket fort but sighing, crouching down and entering,

“Hey, no old people allowed!” Tommy starts before being cut off by Tubbo glaring, apparently noticing the situation is serious enough to let go of it and backing off,

Purpled is sitting near Ranboo, clearly not knowing how to deal with the hybrid in pain but doing his best,

“Hey kid,” Schlatt greets softly, “Can you show me where it hurts?”

Ranboo nods, gesturing again to the spots on their head but not touching,

“Okay, I am going to touch you and it might hurt really badly but it’ll be over quick, okay?” Schlatt says, reaching out a hand to touch on one of the spots,

Ranboo nods in agreement, staying still as Schlatt presses his head down on the spot,

The reaction is instant, the teen letting out a distinctively enderman-like yelp of pain and flinching away from the contact harshly, 

More importantly, Schlatt in the few moments he has contact with the head feels a very distinctive bump forming under the skin,

“Sorry, sorry, it’s over,” Schlatt says, probably not helping much with comforting the teen who is curled up further and whimpering, trembling all over, “You’re growing horns,”

“They’re fucking what?” Tommy asks, sounding a mix of worried and excited, looking between Schlatt and Ranboo, “There is no way!”

“I’d tell you to feel for yourself but that’d hurt, so just wait for them to start bleeding, they will soon,”

Ranboo whimpers more at that, probably not the best words to say,

“Hey, it’s okay Ranboo, it’s okay, growing horns sucks, we’re right here alright?” Tubbo soothes, placing a hand over Ranboo’s again, sending as much comfort through the mark as he can, “The pain will lessen after it breaks the skin, okay?”

They nod again, their whimpering dying down a bit as the pain from the horns being touched dies down slowly,

“I’m gonna go tell the others, stay here with them,” Schlatt says, leaving the fort and the four teens behind,

“You’re gonna get horns big man, that’s so fucking poggers,” Tommy says, deliberately keeping his voice down as he sits next to Ranboo, 

“Yeah, I remember getting my horns, really sucked, I was in bed for like three days before we even knew I was growing them, don’t know how you were walking around while doing it,” Tubbo states, rubbing a thumb across Ranboo’s knuckles, feeling the little bumps,

“I didn’t want to burden you,” They admit, voice muffled by them being curled up, “I could deal with it,”

Purpled frowns, finally moving from his position so he’s a bit closer, “Hey, don’t hide these things okay? If you told us sooner we could’ve helped before it was this bad,”

“Sorry, sorry,” They apologize softly,

“We’re not angry,” Purpled states, “We just don’t want you to be hurt,”

They nod, uncurling slightly from their position,

They hear footsteps and Wilbur kneels at the front of the fort again, “I know there are no ‘old people’ allowed but I brought ice packs for Ranboo,”

Tommy thanks him instead of yelling, handing the packs over to Tubbo who very gently places them against were the horns are growing in,

Ranboo relaxes slightly, it doesn’t help immediately but it definitely isn’t as world-shatteringly painful as them being touched were, so probably an improvement.

Ranboo doesn’t really know what happens in between them laying on the floor and now, but don’t take the time to think about it, they know Tommy and Tubbo stepped out for something, but that is mostly because they aren’t in the fort anymore,

They are watching Purpled play a game on his communicator again, he is providing a little commentary, mostly curses when he dies, 

They yawn, leaning to the side slowly, they’re very tired from the pain and laying down for so long, it wouldn’t hurt if they just-

They blink and flinch up as their arm touching Purpled’s makes pinpricks go along their skin, Purpled flinches back at the same time, dropping his communicator and grabbing his arm,

“Ah, fuck, never get used to that,” Purpled hisses, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a bright red and green mark from were they leaned on him, 

“Oh,” They say softly, blinking in realization that they just marked him, a shaky hand moving to where they were marked on their own skin, slightly tender feeling even under the clothing,

Purpled looks at them, they can feel a bit of his anxiety through the mark even though his face betray his emotions, keeping the slightly-irritated-mostly-calm look he usually keeps,

“Is this good?” He asks, gesturing at the mark,

They nod tentatively, “Yeah, it’s good,”

He nods back, apparently taking that as good enough as he picks up his communicator again, checking for damage,

They go back to their own spot, “Can I lean on you? I am very tired,”

He laughs softly, “Yeah, fine, don’t mess up my ability to play,”

They smile, leaning on him again, “Wouldn’t dream of it,”

They slip off into sleep to the sound of Purpled playing games and his hiss at the others to be quiet as they step back into the fort.

Their sleep is tragically, not dreamless.

They blink to obsidian walls they have grown used to, shockingly XD or any of his dream ‘creations’ to ‘help with stress’ aren’t there, just an empty room,

“Are you going to freak out if I talk again?” XD asks slowly, though he doesn’t appear in the room,

They sigh, wishing they had a grass block right about now, “No,”

“Okay, good,” The voice says but XD doesn’t appear, remaining just a voice,

“What do you want?” They ask, not caring how rude it sounds, they honestly thought the dream had finally stopped, they haven’t had it since they passed out,

“To help you, Ranboo,” XD says and they scoff, 

“Of course, that is why you made me pass out and have everyone freak out over me,”

“Well, arguably that has helped because I doubt you would’ve let them know about your horns growing otherwise,” XD says and they glare at the wall, unable to glare at him as he isn’t particularly _there_ , “But I also didn’t do that,”

“Yeah, sure,” They grumble, crossing their arms,

“I didn't! I didn’t expect talking to you would give you a panic attack and then you wouldn’t calm down!” XD argues, and they can almost see him throwing his hands up in defense, “I haven’t talked since then!”

“So what, you just had nothing to do with me passing out for what, 15 hours?” They ask, anger slowly building,

“Well, maybe, but I didn’t cause it! I just probably extended how long you stayed unconscious!”

“How would you have done that!” They hiss, claws digging into their palms as they clench their hands into fists,

“I can’t say!”

“Why not!”

“Because I can’t!” 

They groans, hitting their head back against the wall, “This is useless,”

“You’re going to wake up soon, I will talk again when you’re awake,”

“Please don’t,”

“Neither of us have a choice in the matter,”

The voice fades, it feels a bit strange, they feel a little more weighed down when the voice is talking, not physically but more like it is actually there, at least they can tell when XD is watching or not, at least in the dream space.

They lean back against the wall, sighing as their vision becomes more staticky, waking up to light shining slightly into the pillow fort, and then processing that the headache hasn’t gone away yet,

They groan, bringing a pillow up to cover their face, hearing others in the fort snicker at them, traitors.


	26. Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The minors accidently start a pillow fight war, Ranboo learns some sign, and their horns finally break through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by 'the best fight scene I have ever written being a pillow fight'.  
> I just thought it was cute, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it because I struggled lol.

Ranboo holds back a groan when they wake up, their head still hurts intensely even though a tiny bit of it has faded from using ice the night before, 

They blindly reach out and grab a pillow, shoving it over their face to block out the light, ear twitching when the sound of quiet snickers meets them and giving the other teens in the fort a growl with no bite, kicking out and managing to hit someone in the arm, but it only makes the snickers turn into actual laughs, traitors.

“You look like an angry cat!” Tommy cackles and they smack him with one of their tails, pulling the pillow off their face to glare at him,

“And you look like a chicken,” They say, smirking when he gasps in offence and taking his moment of surprise to smack him in the face with their tail again,

“You’re terrible! Not pog!” Tommy yells from where he was knocked to the floor of the fort, muffled from somehow managing to fall face-first into the piles of pillows and blankets,

Ranboo laughs at him, a high, giddy noise that even surprises themself a bit, but they don’t care enough to try to muffle it, instead just laying back down onto the padded ground of the pillow fort, 

Tubbo is laughing too, keeled over with his hands around his stomach and wheezing, next to crying from laughter, and they can feel Purpled’s amusement through the bond (they almost forgot about that.)

Their laughter eventually subsides into just wheezing, Ranboo manages to say “Never change, Tommy,” and earns a smack on the leg,

Quackity kneels quickly in front of the entrance to the pillow fortress, “If you are all done goofing off, breakfast is ready,” He says teasingly, looking at the four teens,

“Holy FUCK!” Tommy yells, not realizing Quackity had arrived and getting jumpscared, “You scared the shit out of me! And no old people, get out!”

“I’m not old!” Quackity yells back before getting smacked in the face with a pillow by Tommy, falling straight onto the floor,

He blinks before grabbing a pillow from next to him, threatening the structural integrity of the fort as he smacks Tommy several times over, “This means war,”

Tubbo, like the good, kind soulmate he is, rushes to Tommy’s defense, grabbing two pillows off the floor and starting to hit Quackity with him, which works well until Sapnap comes in to see what is going on, joining in on his fiance's side.

Ranboo instead grabs Purpled’s arm and drags him out of the now pretty much collapsing fort before it falls onto them, managing to avoid being hit by stray pillows being thrown,

“Here’s my idea, we wait for everyone to join in and be all tired out, and then we beat up them and become the victors,” Purpled says to him quietly, not hearable to anyone else over the yelling as more people join in on the pillow fight,

Ranboo nods, pulling them against the far wall of the room, watching the carnage as it unfolds, everything gets 10x more chaotic when Dream and Techno join in, both hit by stray pillows and taking no prisoners, 

Ranboo is almost worried for a few seconds when Dream hits Tommy’s legs out from under him hard enough that he smacks onto the floor, but that quickly recedes with the rush of pure elation they get through Tommy’s soulmark immediately after,

Wilbur has managed to make a little faction in the pillow fight, fighting to take over the rest of the room together, who is on his side is a bit messy though, switching out far too often to be trackable in any sense,

Tubbo at some point is lifted up onto Schlatt’s shoulders to deal more damage, laughing next to hysterically as he wipes people out before inevitably falling off and being taken out of the battle, 

Unsurprisingly the last remaining are Phil and Techno, who teamed up after Wilbur’s ‘death’ (Wanting to go eat breakfast and getting dramatically ‘killed’ by Phil after asking to be) and Tommy’s ‘betrayal’ (putting Tubbo as the ‘next leader’ after Wilbur’s death when the faction was supposed to be leaderless.), actual battle prowess and Dream getting bored and leaving making them the winners,

Or so they thought,

Ranboo gives it a good 5 seconds for the adrenaline to wear off a bit and tiredness to set in from fighting so many people before they charge, grabbing Purpled and shoving a pillow into his arms, teleporting behind the two,

“SNEAK ATTACK!” They yell, smacking Techno over the head as Purpled takes Phil, cackling happily, the piglin hybrid not expecting the attack and being prone to it,

“We thought you were staying out of it because you had a migraine, you traitor!” Phil yells at them through his grin, trying to defend himself from Purpled’s assault

“I do!” They yell back, smacking Techno over the head again before Techno finally is shocked out of his daze and hits them in the side, them teleporting somewhere else in the room before he can hit them again,

“That’s got to be cheating,” Techno says, protecting himself with his own pillow as they try to hit him again,

“There are no rules in war Techno! You live or you die!” They state, smacking him over the head again, playing up some of that Wilbur Drama.

“Than what the fuck is the geneva convention for?” Purpled asks, standing over Phil who had resigned from the battle, raining victorious,

“What’s the Jenaveve contention?” They ask, playing up the seriousness in their voice and a bit too focused on the conversation to block the hit from Techno, being sent to the floor from a particularly hard hit to their head that makes their vision white out from pain for a few seconds, maybe a pillow fight with a migraine was a bad idea,

Purpled comes to his defence before Techno can hit them again, using the incredibly useful strategy of ‘hit it until it dies’, Ranboo manages to shake off the increasing ache in their skull, grabbing their own pillow again and jumping up, joining in on the attack,

“I surrender I surrender!” Techno finally says, putting his hands up and both teens back off, the piglin hybrid huffing angrily and trying to fix his destroyed hairstyle, the braid all messy and fluffed out from being hit repeatedly with a pillow,

“Haha, victory!” Ranboo says, pumping their fist in the air and high fiving Purpled, grinning happily, the excitement and adrenaline overpowering the fact that their head hurts,

They blink when they feel a soft hit against their leg, looking down to find Michael looking up at them, hitting a pillow against their leg,

They’re pretty sure their heart melts,

“Hi Michael,” They coo, kneeling down to be semi-level with the toddler, “Are you fighting me?”

“Vitory! Vitory!” Michael says, copying them as he hits them again with the pillow, making them laugh,

“Yeah, yeah, you win,” They say, picking up the toddler carefully, checking him over to make sure he didn’t get hit during the battle, 

“You two are menaces,” Phil says, sounding more proud and amused than angry, 

“You’re just mad because you lost old man,” Purpled bites back, smiling proudly at his achievement,

“I don’t know what you’re happy about, Michael won,” Ranboo states, cradling the toddler happily who is still yelling ‘Vitory Vitory!’

“Of course,” Purpled answers and they nod, smiling proudly at their son, Purpled pauses, looking a bit confused, “I was being sarcastic,” Purpled clarifies and they frown just a little bit, oh, yeah, they were never good at telling that.

“Let’s go to breakfast,” He says, distracting them from their thoughts, bringing them to the dining room were others are filtering in, nursing the shame of loss and a few bruises, Ranboo doesn’t even know how they managed that,

They go to their usual seat, putting Michael in the highchair he was given so that he is free to make as much of a mess as he wants after the dads finally found it again, Michael immediately starts ravaging his food, little goblin.

They sit at their seat, sighing softly, the quick adrenaline wearing off and becoming tired yet again, along with intensifying the pain in their head, making them kinda wish they stayed in the (now collapsed) blanket fort.

They lay their head in their arms while waiting for food to be brought to them, blocking the light from hitting their eyes and making their head hurt more,

They look up when they hear the sound of plates clinking, taking their own with a soft ‘thank you’, taking a few half-hearted bites, it makes their stomach curl uncomfortably with nausea and they don’t eat much before pushing it away, laying back down in their arms,

“Are you okay?” They hear someone ask and look up again, blinking uneasily, seeing Purpled staring at them, only looking slightly worried though the bond tells otherwise,

“Yeah, just a headache,” They say softly, giving him a shaky smile that convinces absolutely no one,

“Oh yeah, you’re growing horns right?” Puffy asks and they nod, she winces sympathetically, “I remember when I grew horns, didn’t feel too good,”

“Do you know what they’re from? I don’t think enderman have horns,” Tommy asks curiously,

“I don’t know, we don’t know what the other half is, only my enderman side,” Ranboo states, gesturing at the white side, “or maybe I’m just a weird enderman,”

“Maybe you’re a ram or a goat!” Tubbo says happily, bouncing in his seat slightly,

“Or a cow maybe, because the black and white,” Tommy suggests, Ranboo would probably be a bit offended if they didn’t know Tommy’s ‘slight’ fondness for the creatures,

“What I am right now is having a severe migraine,” Ranboo mutters, putting their face back in their arms,

“Sorry kid, we’d give you a healing pot or something but it’d probably only make it worse,” Schlatt says, “They need to break through the skin on your head, and it will just go slower if we give you one,”

“It’s fine, I get it, just annoying,” Ranboo answers, they kinda wish their pain tolerance was better for these things, it probably should’ve gotten better in Hypixel but they guess they were too good at avoiding non-fatal blows.

Breakfast wraps up quickly after that, they leave soon, the noise a bit too much, and escape to the living room, grabbing their weighted blanket from under the pile of them were the collapsed pillow fort is and sitting in their seat, relaxing under it, the pressure grounding,

Purpled joins them a few moments later, silently asking them if he could join, it is both difficult and easy to tell what Purpled wants from them, they struggle with his tone of voice, telling when he is angry or just joking, or when he is sarcastic, but his body language is easy to read, probably from Hypixel, silent communication is important there,

They need to stop thinking about Hypixel before they panic again,

Purpled leans against them on the chair, weighted blanket covering his legs and most of them, 

“Are you doing okay?” Purpled asks after a bit, surprising them out of their thoughts, “I know I asked at breakfast, but that was in front of people,”

They shrug slightly, the action difficult with someone’s weight on their shoulder, “I’ve been worse I guess,”

“That isn’t too comforting,” Purpled states, “What does it feel like?”

“Have you ever been hit with an axe in the head?” A nod, “Like that.”

“Oof,” Purpled says softly, “Glad I didn’t have to go through that,”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want you to,” Ranboo states honestly, “Though you would look pretty cool with horns,”

“Oh I would look the coolest,” Purpled says, grinning slightly as he taps away on his communicator, “Do you want to tell them?”

“About my headache?” Ranboo asks, they already told everyone about that, why would they tell them again?

“No, the,” Purpled gestures at his shoulder and neck area where he’s leaning on them and they take a second to realize that’s where their soulmark is, “No one knows yet, do you want to tell them?”

They think for a moment about it, “I don’t want to keep it from them, but we don’t have to like, have a big reveal, you know?”

Purpled nods, “Good, because I hate those too,”

They laugh softly, “Yeah, it’s fun but it gets loud quickly, and chaotic,”

“At one of Punz’ I shoved his face into a cake,” Purpled admits, “It was hilarious,”

“Oh my god,” Ranboo says, laughing into their hand, “Was he mad?”

“Yeah, he got back at me a few days later though, so it’s equal,”

Ranboo nods, leaning against Purpled further, yawning softly,

“You can sleep more if you want, I bet it’ll help with the headache,” Purpled offers them,

“Yeah, thank you Purpled,” They say, closing their eyes as they lean against him, dozing off slowly.

They are honestly quite bored sitting around all day with a headache, they’re glad that today’s isn’t the most painful it’s been, the few times it’s been bad enough that they couldn’t get up were terrible and they do not wish to relive them,

They are a bit surprised when Callahan walks into the living room, while he is at most mealtimes they have never really seen him out of them besides when he is leaving his room in the morning, or when they first met, 

He waves at them, walking over and sitting in a chair across from them,

“Oh, hey Callahan,” They say back, even though they know the sign for hello (they don’t know anyone who doesn’t) Callahan can hear and they think it’s polite to verbally acknowledge them,

He makes a movement with his hands, spaced out a little between them, first he puts his hands up and taps his pointer and thumb together while the rest of his fingers are down, than he points at them, than he puts his hands out and pulls them in in a claw-like shape, than he taps the middle of his forehead with his hand and making a motion like setting something down on his palm, and then he signs two letters, S-L

“What?” They ask, they feel bad for not knowing what he is saying but really do not get what any of it means,

Callahan makes an exaggerated sighing motion with no actual annoyance behind it, taking out a piece of paper and writing something quickly on it before handing it over,

‘Do you want to learn sign language?’

“Oh, uh, sure,” They say, “But I really don’t know much,”

Callahan signs ‘Ok’ at them, something simple enough that they get it, mostly because it just looks like the letters,

Callahan slowly signs out some letters to them, K-N-O-W L-E-T-T-E-R-S, and they nod.

“Yeah, I know letters pretty well,” They affirm and Callahan nods happily, 

E-A-S-I-E-R

“Really?” They ask, a bit surprised that just remembering 20-something hand gestures helps that much,

Callahan nods again, smiling,

He signs something to them, they’re pretty sure the first thing is ‘my’ as Callahan puts a hand to his chest, before tapping two fingers on each hand together in a cross and signing out C-A-L-L-A-H-A-N

“Oh, is that ‘my name is’?” They ask, “So you’re saying your name is Callahan?”

He nods happily again, clearly liking that they got it so fast, signing again but instead pointing to them and putting R-A-N-B-O-O at the end,

“My name is Ranboo?” They ask and Callahan nods to affirm,

“So I’d say it like,,,, my” They put a hand to their chest, “Name is,” They tap their fingers together like Callahan did, “Ranboo,” They sign the letters slowly, careful to get them right, looking up for confirmation,

Callahan claps, grinning at them widely, he signs something quickly that they don’t get any of, chuckling silently to himself at their confused look,

Y-O-U D-O G-O-O-D Callahan signs slowly for them, they doubt that is what he said the first time but don’t call him out on that, 

“Thanks, can we try more?”

Callahan nods, pulling out a book and sliding it over to them,

“Well this would’ve been easier than you having to spell every individual letter,” They state, staring at the sign language book in front of them,

Callahan shrugs, F-U-N,

They chuckle, “Sure, okay, so how do I do this…” They say, carefully signing things back and forth with Callahan, who either responds happily whenever they get it right or showing them the right one when they get it wrong, 

They are surprised when they finally stop a few hours later, only noticing how dark it has gotten outside,

‘Quick you get it ’ Callahan signs that them, they don’t know the sign for ‘quick’ but by the action they guess that is what he is saying, ‘Good job’

‘Thank you’ they sign back, the action looks kinda like blowing a kiss and missing, that’s how they remember it anyways.

‘No problem’ Callahan signs back, ‘Later I help more?’

‘Please’ They sign, smiling a bit wider than they should, ‘Fun’

Callahan nods in agreement, 'Dinner, come, ’ He signs, getting up to go to the dinner table, now thinking of it Ranboo can smell it and is shockingly hungry, even though they didn’t particularly do anything but make gestures with their hands.

They are very confused when instead of walking to the dining room they blink and are in their bedroom, laying down, their head feels strangely wet even though it doesn’t burn, 

They reach a hand up, wincing when they touch a wet sticky substance and pulling it down in front of their eyes,

They blink, surprised to see the dark red of blood, guess their horns finally broke through skin.

“Ow,” They mutter, sitting up and hoping the pillows aren’t too stained, carefully dragging themself to the bathroom to look at themself,

There is more blood than it looks like, they probably were laying for a while without noticing, a good portion of the white side of their head is dyed red, that is gonna be a pain to get out.

They sigh, very carefully grabbing a towel and dampening it, wincing when it drags over the newly opened skin where their horns broke through, they are smooth but not particularly tough, meant for headbutting into things like Tubbo or Schlatt or Puffy’s are.

They don’t particularly care to look into it right now, tired and in pain, carefully trying to get as much of the blood out as possible without burning themselves too terribly.

Once they deem themself clean enough from blood they decide that they are much too awake now to go back to bed and resign themself to joining tonight’s insomnia club, making themself only slightly more presentable and walking downstairs, relaxing from the sound of quiet chatting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Callahan's sign is based on ASL because I know some ASL so I am less likely to get some wrong, even though I will anyways because god is it hard to translate ASL over text.


	27. Michael's Curing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo joins insomnia club, they wish that XD would just shut up.
> 
> Michael gets cured from being a zombie.
> 
> Ranboo is Fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor TW throughout the general chapter (mostly the first and last parts) of thoughts of possibly being insane and accidental self-injury.
> 
> MAJOR TW for the end with actual self harm (pressing on a wound, not actually inflicting it), and mentions of scars/past self harm. If you are triggered by said things I would reccomend skipping the last portion!

They walk into the dining room, looking over those in the room, Techno, Wilbur, Tommy, Phil, the usuals, along with Dream.

They resist the urge to turn around and just go back to their room when they see Dream, it’s not that they particularly dislike him, he isn’t mean or anything, it’s just a bit weird to speak to someone with the same voice as that appears in his strange reaccuring dream that may ALSO now be a hallucination,

Before they can decide between staying and running Tommy spots them, waving at them tiredly,

“Come to join us big man?” Tommy asks, “There is hot chocolate on the furnace,”

They nod, walking into the kitchen and getting themself a glass before returning, sitting in one of the empty seats were they’re all clustered,

“I wonder how much hot chocolate we go through,” They say, taking a sip from their glass and wincing when they burn their tongue,

“Oh, way too much mate,” Phil says, chuckling, “If we sold all our cocoa beans instead of using them we could single handedly topple the entire stock market,”

“I don’t think that is how stocks work,” Wilbur says,

“Yeah, that’s just how powerful our bean stock is,” Tommy states, crossing his arms,

“There is not a single person in this room who knows what stocks are, is there?” Techno says, placing his head in one of his hands, probably already having to go through multiple hours of similar arguments,

“I do, I just like seeing you all be wrong,” Dream states, getting kicked under the table by Tommy, immediately kicking him back and starting a small game of footsie, Ranboo picks their cup up off the table to save it,

“So, why are you awake?” Tommy asks, very obviously kicking Dream again under the table, 

“Horns broke through, I bled all over,” Ranboo explains simply, pushing down their hair slightly so the horns are visible, even though they don’t peak through the skin much yet,

Wilbur winces sympathetically, “That must’ve not been too fun to awaken to,”

“No, I had to get up to clean blood off and then I was too awake to go back to bed, so I decided to just join you all,” Ranboo says, shrugging, “I don’t really know if I slept anyways, my memory is all fuzzy before I woke up,”

“Oh, you havin’ another memory boy moment?” Tommy asks, getting a hissed ‘Tommy!’ and a punch to the shoulder from Wilbur, “What?! I’m just asking!”

They chuckle, “Yeah, yeah, maybe,” They say, “I remember learning some sign with Callahan and then going to walk into here for dinner but than it’s all blank from there,”

“Oh yeah, I remember you telling us about doing that!” Wilbur confirms, smiling, “Callahan thinks you’re doing really good,”

They flush only a bit, ears drooping happily, “I’m not that good, I mess up the word order a lot,”

They resist the urge to freeze in place when instead of from the mouths of the people around them they hear a voice like it’s right next to their ear, “They’re right, you did really good,” XD says, voice comforting but still incredibly disconcerting to hear,

They dig the nails of one of their hands that was resting on their leg instead of on their mug into it, something to focus on instead of the voice so they don’t react to it, they hope no one noticed,

“Uh, Ranboo?” Someone says and they look up when they hear a snap, “Are you with us?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” They apologize, “Brain still all fuzzy, I zoned out,”

“It’s fine,” Phil hums, taking a sip from his mug, “Do you want to go back to bed?”

“No, no, I’m alright,” Ranboo assures, smiling shakily at him, “I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways,”

“If you say so,” Phil answers, though he doesn’t seem particularly convinced,

Ranboo pulls up their legs to their chest, listening to the conversations around them, hoping no one notices how their breath gets slightly shakier whenever XD talks, just little comments about the surroundings, the conversations, the people, nothing malicious, but they still don’t like it.

They don’t like it at all.

People slowly leave to go to bed and try to get at least a few hours, Tommy first, wishing them all good night and escaping to his room, Wilbur follows a bit after, more to work on his latest songs than to actually try and sleep.

Next goes Dream and Phil, both leave a few minutes apart from each other, trying to get at least a few hours in,

Leaving just Ranboo and Techno, and the voices in their heads.

“Uh, Ranboo,” Techno starts, causing them to look up at him, “I know I’m not good at the whole, emotions, thing, but are you okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah I’m fine!” They say, much too quickly to be telling the truth, “I’m great!”

“Ranboo, you don’t need to lie to me,” Techno says and they physically deflate, curling up further in their chair, “We can tell that something is wrong,”

“It’s fine, it’s nothing,” Ranboo says again, rocking softly back and forth, more difficult while in a chair without risking tipping it over,

Techno sighs, accepting defeat, “You don’t have to tell me anything, but if something is wrong you can always talk to someone, okay? It doesn’t even have to be any of us,”

‘Who else?’ Ranboo thinks bitterly, looking away, but nodding, “I- I will, if there is anything I need to speak about, because there isn’t,”

“Great lying,” XD laughs in their head, “But you really don’t need to be scared of me,”

‘Shut up,’ They hiss back mentally, digging their nails deeper into their thigh,

Techno nods, “Goodnight, Ranboo,” He says, standing and reaching out like he is going to touch their shoulder or head before pulling back, leaving,

XD laughs harder in their head and they hold back the urge to growl at him, “Did he seriously just do that! That’s so awkward!”

“Yeah, and talking in my head isn’t,” They hiss back quietly, standing and walking to the kitchen, putting their mug away,

“Hey, I have no control over that!” XD says back, “I’m just happy to be able to talk to you more than just when you sleep,”

“And I am not,” They quip back, dropping their mug into the sink and accidently splashing some (thankfully clean) water onto their hand, hissing as it burns their skin,

They check the damage, it’s not the worst (it’s pretty bad, actually, but they’ve had worse, so it’s _fine_ ), the area between their thumb and pointer on the back of their left hand, stretching out to almost the middle,

They cradle the hand in their other one as they escape the kitchen, it still hurts, there is still water burning it but they don’t want to go through drying it off, they don’t want to destroy another towel with their blood, and they’ll be fine.

Right?

Yeah, yeah, they’ll be fine.

They think the worst part of parenthood has to be seeing Michael suffering, it beats the time that Michael puked all over one of their favorite white blouses, when he accidently hit them on the head directly were their horn was growing in and almost made them pass out in pain, whenever he cries and throws a tantrum (rarely),

No, Ranboo is convinced that seeing him whining pitifully under a small mound of blankets, a damp cloth on his head to fight off the fever even though he is trembling like he is freezing to death, is much worse than that,

“Shhhh, shhh, it’s okay,” They coo softly, running a hand along the thin hair on Michael’s head, which they’re still convinced is growing longer compared to the rest of his body, “It’s going to be okay,”

Michael whines again, reaching for them and they think they’re gonna start crying, swallowing down guilt that they caused this, it’s for the best for Michael, stopping the rot before it kills him, but seeing him like this still hurts deep in their chest,

“I know baby, I know, this is going to help, okay?” They say, more convincing themself than Michael, 

“Boo, Boo,” Michael whines, making grabby hands at them and they sigh, picking up the child and cradling him gently, careful to keep the rag on his forehead,

“I know honey,” They say soothingly, “It will be over soon,”

“Tubbo’s almost here,” XD tells them and they nod to no one, thanking him mentally, while they still definitely don’t LIKE his occasionally presence in their head, it’s more than a bit helpful in some occasions,

They would’ve cured Michael later but the green rot was starting to spread further and Phil was fearing he might lose his other eye, and while Ranboo was perfectly fine possibly raising a blind child, if they could avoid further damage they definitely would, so they were stuck doing it now,

According to Phil it is ‘going well’, most of the rot has faded from the sickly green to a less sickly white, almost like scar tissue, but Ranboo is still in full parental worry mode over Michael’s fever and how much he’s cried,

Tubbo walks into the room, startling them from their thoughts, “I got another rag and some water if he can stomach it, I’m sorry I took a minute,” He says, walking to sit next to them,

“It’s fine,” Ranboo says, brushing their hair out of their own eyes, stress certainly hasn’t helped their migraine, though they’re glad they got through the worst of it before Michael had to go through this,

They carefully set Michael back down, sliding the blanket over him and changing out the rags, the slight dampness stings their fingers uncomfortably but they don’t care to focus on it, much too worried on their son to care,

“Bee, Boo,” Michael whines, reaching out with his tiny little baby hands, Tubbo slides to the other side of him, letting Michael grab onto one of his fingers,

“I know, it’s okay,” Tubbo says softly, “It will be over soon, and then you can play with uncle Tommy again, you like that don’t you?”

Michael makes a noise that sounds like agreement, Ranboo situates themself so Tubbo and them are on opposite sides of Michael, letting Michael grab their finger with his other hand,

Ranboo winces as pain like needles digging into their finger all over starts up when Michael takes it, their first thought being ‘when did he get so strong?’ before they feel something like a tug and then a familiar, slightly off feeling of distressed-content-distressed-content starts up,

They very, very carefully pull their hand away from Michael’s and look at it, staring in amazement at a dusty, slightly ruddy pink surrounding their finger,

They look up to show Tubbo and find him staring in similar amazement at his own mark in the same spot, 

They lock eyes for a second when Tubbo looks up before Tubbo politely looks away, knowing Ranboo’s discomfort with it,

“Oh my god,” Ranboo says, slightly choked, staring down in amazement at their, _their_ son, who looks quite annoyed that they are no longer holding his hands,

“Ranboo, Ranboo, it’s like wedding rings,” Tubbo whispers in amazement, grabbing one of their hands in his so the soulmarks touch,

“It’s on the wrong finger Tubbo,” Ranboo says but can’t help the grin that breaks across their face, desperately blinking away happy tears from their eyes,

“Oh who cares!” Tubbo says, laughing and leaning over Michael, bumping their foreheads together softly and kissing the toddler on the cheek,

Michael cooes, waving his little baby hands happily, both of his palms colored, one a bright red and lime green and the other a darker, foresty one.

“I wonder how those are gonna look when he’s older,” Tubbo says, chuckling softly, “The ones I gave Schlatt when I was a baby look all weird now,”

“Yeah, maybe it’ll look like our fingers are giant,” Ranboo says, laying down next to the toddler again, Tubbo doing the same, keeping their hands interlaced over him,

“I love you,” Tubbo says, smirking when they sputter, “Planktonically,”

They laugh, muttering a small ‘oh my god’ to themself before managing to make themself become semi-serious again, “I love you too Tubbo,”

“Good,” Tubbo says simply and they snort again, chuckling at him,

“I love you Michael,” They chirp happily to the toddler, who answers back with babbling that they take as a response,

“Love you Michael,” Tubbo says, using his free hand to hold the toddlers, smiling when the toddler cooes happily at him,

“He’ll be okay,” Ranboo says, and Tubbo nods in confirmation,

“Yeah, he’ll be okay,” Tubbo says, smiling proudly at their child.

All three are found hours later, passed out curled around each other, no one tries to wake them up, just bringing a blanket over to drape over them, letting the three rest, they all certainly need it.

Michael’s condition gladly improves greatly after that, only taking a day or two longer before his fever breaks, all the rot dissipated into clean, white scar tissue at the edges of his skin, some of it has even started (steadily) rebuilding over the exposed bone of his ribs,

They make sure to keep his chest and stomach bandaged where bone and organs were exposed, not wanting an infection to get in, Ranboo is pretty sure if he manages to get an infection on an organ that they’ll faint in worry,

They hum softly, holding him on their hip as they put newly washed (and dried) clothing onto hooks in their closet, Michael babbling happily about nothing,

“You’re a good dad,” XD compliments, his sudden voice making them jump,

“Yeah, thanks,” They say none too bitterly, putting the clothing on the racks just a little bit more roughly, Michael makes a confused noise in his arms,

“I don’t know why you’re so mad at me,” XD says, “I haven’t done anything,”

“Oh you’ve done plenty,” Ranboo hisses, 

“I didn’t expect you to pass out the first time I spoke! You panicked and wouldn’t calm down!” XD argues, “And you yelling at everyone after is completely on you!”

“If you just stayed out of my head and didn’t confirm that I was fucking insane none of that would’ve happened!” Ranboo snaps, softening when Michael makes a distressed noise in their arms, rocking him softly, “It’s okay, not at you Michael,”

“You’re not insane,” XD assures softly, “I’m just like any other friend,”

“Yeah, right,” They say bitterly, keeping their voice softer to not scare Michael again, 

While they can’t see him, they can never see his face anyways, they think he frowns,

“I am, I will stick around until you believe me,” XD states, though his voice has a tinge of sadness and they have to fight off guilt for making a construct of their mind sad, “I’ll leave you alone for now, though,”

“Good, maybe stay that way,” Ranboo says, shutting the door to their closet and turning around, the phantom weight of the voice dissipates and they sigh, slowly sliding to the floor, holding their son to their chest gently but closely,

They should probably apologize to the others for yelling, they were going to and then things kept coming up, but they think Sam still feels guilty, not that it was really his fault, it wasn’t his idea to keep close watch on them, honestly it was really no ones, it was just a lot of people's individual worries that built up into something excessive,

It’s fine, really, they’re over it, they can deal with some coddling if they can deal with years on a death server were respawns were glitchy at best, they can apologize like the basically-adult they are,

But they’re not basically an adult, they are a child still, even though they have a son and a husband they are still a teenager, the second youngest, and should be able to be treated as such, they should’ve been cared for by a parental figure earlier,

But they weren’t and they grew on their own and they’re fine, really, their issues with being cared for are nothing really, it’s not a big issue that they feel the need to care for themself and don’t know how to handle others doing so for them, it’s fine, they’re fine.

They press their thumb down hard on the water burn from a few nights before, pain sparking up from it, they only pull away once it gets bad enough their hand spasms and on instinct separates the two, gasping slightly in the rush of it,

They hear Michael whining softly and it pulls them out of whatever haze they were in, comforting him softly, they hope he didn’t see that, it probably wouldn’t be obvious to a toddler, but they don’t think their son should have to see that,

They haven’t resorted to something like that, well, not on purpose, in a while, not since Hypixel, not since they arrived here,

Because they’re fine (the claw marks on their leg from a few nights before when XD started talking again sting), they’re fine (the scars on their wrists from tearing too deep never stop itching), they’re fine (the ones on their thighs do the same), they’re fine (they still resort to hitting and scratching themself when everything gets too much.) they’re fine.

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Answering some questions from the Poll! Here is the new one!  
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNjGg9x_lpPRboGapa0w4OnCB6859G8IgZRoL5n9VH-djrVA/viewform
> 
> horns! ow. normal endermen don’t have horns tho so is this just pog character design or is boo part dragon or something? (or possibly the other hybrid side): It's mostly just pog character design??? Though I am questioning having Ranboo be half-dragon (or half-dragon half-enderman) to the story!
> 
> what’s your favorite flower type? (part of above question but I split them): Chamomile, mostly because of the tea.
> 
> Multiple questions asking if Ranboo has a tail: Yes! I imagine them with two actually! (I am planning on making my design for all the characters eventually)
> 
> opinion on choccy milk?: Good :>
> 
> Will Ranboo also be getting wings: Maybe! I am still questioning if I should make him dragonboo or not!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic updates (usually) once every 2 days and will mostly be fluff/healing based!


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